


She Smelled like Lilacs

by TheWhiteRaven



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Bank Robbery, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:18:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 59,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7012216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWhiteRaven/pseuds/TheWhiteRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when a broody artist and a cute yoga instructor get caught in the middle of a bank robbery? Good thing the robbers weren’t after Carmilla’s heart because Laura Hollis already stole it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Carmilla had often thought of the many ways she might leave this cruel world and slip into the oblivion which so many of the philosophers she studies so desperately crave. Of all the tragic ends that have flitted through her mind over the years, she never could have conjured up such a tremendous finale to her short existence.

Sirens blared, lights flashed, and a dense haze crept into the depths of her mind pulling her into the dark unconscious that almost seemed comforting compared to the chaos currently surrounding her body. She could feel gloved hands all over trying their best to keep her life from slipping through their fingers. Carmilla felt a cold wetness seeping into her clothes and drenching the carpet beneath her.

Carmilla’s vision fades to black as a vast expanse of constellations filled the empty void of her mind. If she looked hard enough, she could see a girl’s face smiling back at her in the constellation of stars created by her imagination. Her last thoughts were of this girl as she slipped deeper into her unconscious as the faint smell of lilacs filled her soul with hope.

* * *

 

**(3 hours earlier)**

It started off like any other day with the birds chirping, the sun shining, and a slumbering Carmilla lazily draped across her queen size bed in her unusually dark apartment at 1:00 in the afternoon. She sleeps so often during the day that one could easily confuse her for a bat or a member of the undead twilight cult that teenagers tend to be so infatuated with nowadays. It wasn’t just Carmilla’s sleeping habits that resembled the characteristics of a vampire, but instead her entire being. Daylight streamed through a small unwanted opening in the curtains and illuminated her subtle curves of ivory skin that seemed to sparkle in the light. In this lighting she almost looked like porcelain that could shatter if one so much as dared to touch. Deep raven locks lay strewn about the pillow in every which way as the slight hint of a jawline could be seen through her dark tresses.

Her deep slumber was brutally ended as the beeping of her alarm clock, which happened to be strategically placed right next to her head, cut through the stillness of the small room. The shrill beeping was cut short by the sheer force of a finely sculpted arm of the not-so-sleeping beauty as it hacked away at the unfortunate device. In Carmilla’s sleepy aggression she managed to knock the clock onto the floor where it now lay shattered and in no working order. “That’s the third one this month,” Carmilla grumbled as she slumped down onto the floor with the realization that her legs were a few steps behind her brain. ( _pun fully intended_ )

As her body began to wake up she slowly pulled herself up by the side of the bed and trudged her way to the bathroom for a much needed shower. Carmilla normally wouldn’t be up this early, if you could call it early, if it weren’t for the necessary task at hand. She had to go to the bank to deposit a hefty check she recently received from a buyer of one of her latest paintings. She would usually procrastinate this for as long as possible, but the landlord has been up her ass all week for rent and she didn’t trust her actions if he decided to pester her again. Her landlord, Theodore, tested her limits of self control, but she has a good deal on the rent and honestly she didn’t have the motivation to go apartment shopping…again.

She dried herself off and slipped into her deliciously tight leather pants, a lacy top that she found haphazardly thrown on the floor, and her signature combat boots that tied together the unfairly attractive ensemble. With her black coffee and red clutch in hand she made her way out the door and in the direction of Laferry Bank a few blocks away on Church Street.

Frigid April Toronto air whipped past Carmilla’s face and seeped down to the bone. Carmilla’s continuous internal monologue consisted of a string of “Oh shits” and “Jackets are for pussies.” These thoughts were never expressed on her cool exterior, but her pace was increased to a brisk walk as she avidly tried to avoid hypothermia. As she looked around she was surrounded by glittering skyscrapers and a river of cars that gleamed in the midday sun. As if on cue, Carmilla’s stomach grumbled at the odors drifting from various food trucks and cafes scattered down the street. After her errand she was definitely stopping at Negovanman’s Taco Truck because damn they knew how to make a taco. Carmilla was lost in thought about tacos when she was line-driven by what she could only describe as a brick wall.

“Watch it you Neanderthal!”, Carmella snapped as she tried to gather her bearings.

The obscenely large man offered a hand to Carmilla as he said, “Ughhh, sorry there little hottie. Totally didn’t see you down there. Name’s Kirsch by the way.”

Carmilla swatted his hand away and proceeded to stand herself up, which proves to be quite a task in leather pants. “Okay _Kirk_ , maybe next time you should keep your eyes trained a little lower because not everyone is the size of a fucking tree,” Carmilla seethed.

And with that she strutted away like a woman on a mission, and couldn’t keep the smirk from spreading across her face as she could faintly hear the giant puppy yell after her, “Kirsch, it’s Kirsch!”

As Carmilla rounded the corner she could finally see the sign of her desired target. “Why does it have to be so god damn cold?”, she mumbles as she stealthily dodges frazzled business people who look like they’re barely surviving on their continuous caffeine regimen. As Carmilla jay-walked her way across the busy street, car horns blared, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care how much of an inconvenience she was being. She had her priorities and they had theirs, and if she pissed off a few people along the way then so be it.

Walking up the slick steps of the bank Carmilla stopped dead in her tracks. To those passing by she probably looked like a deer in headlights or a poor unfortunate soul who stayed out in the cold for just a little too long. People might have thought she was actually frozen if it weren’t for the slight blush creeping up her cheeks. Although her body was as still as a statue, her eyes followed the object of her infatuation.

A petite woman with honey brown hair came bounding up the steps not noticing that she had a secret admirer lurking in the wings. The girl had on a navy blue and white pin stripped button up and blue jeans rolled up to her mid-calf. Her attire was very modest, but one could clearly see that underneath it all one would not be left disappointed. She was wearing tan sperrys that were clearly not meant for this unbelievably frigid weather. Carmilla cursed herself for not bringing a jacket, if only for the sole reason that she could’ve offered it to this fair maiden. This wasn’t the first time that Carmilla has laid eyes on this beautiful specimen of a woman. Far from it actually.

On Mondays and Wednesdays Carmilla always leaves her art studio at exactly 3:25PM to catch a glimpse of the girl walking out of the building next door at 3:30PM. She assumed the blonde was coming from the yoga studio on the second floor of the building based on the colorful workout attire the cupcake was always sporting. Let’s just say this girl has brought Carmilla a whole new appreciation for yoga. More than once Carmilla had entertained the thought of going and checking out the studio, but soon realized that she is Carmilla _fucking_ Karnstein, and a “hot” yoga class would demolish her bad ass reputation. She was also afraid of the all too real possibility that any attempt at a pose would unintentionally become some version of the corpse pose. That is of course if she doesn’t become one from the lack of heat currently flowing through her body.

A violent shiver rips Carmilla out of her trance as she realized the girl dropped her wallet a mere 10 feet away. Carmilla wanted to run over to help the girl out, but was soon sidetracked by the beautiful girl bending over right in front of her and holy shit. If Carmilla thought she was gawking before, that was nothing because now her jaw was practically dragging on the icy deathtrap that this bank calls stairs. She could not only catch flies, but also possibly other small mammals, including perhaps a small chipmunk. Carmilla’s brain was screaming at her to look away, but her dark eyes were glued to this mystery girl’s finely sculpted ass. Carmilla would normally be appalled at herself if it weren’t for the fact that the girl’s shirt had ridden up a little in the front, and she could see an adorable little freckle above her belly button. And dear lord don’t get her started on her defined abs that she wished she could get her hands…wait when did she turn around?

Carmilla slowly trailed her eyes back up the woman’s body to see two sparking caramel colored eyes looking back up at her questioningly. Carmilla at least had the decency to look guilty as a beautiful deep red blush blossomed from the back of her neck and spread across her face. The girl noticed how uncomfortable Carmilla looked and decided to spare her of her wrath as she gave her a knowing smile and turned back around to head into the bank.

The cold that was seeping into her bones only moments ago had now vanished and was replaced by a warm and tingly feeling. After only a moment of recuperation Carmilla continued up the stairs all the while mentally kicking herself for acting like a horny prepubescent boy. Not only had she been caught blatantly staring at her ass, but she also didn’t have the balls to apologize for it, or at least introduce herself. Carmilla finally made it to the entrance and was surprised to see that when she reached for the door, her hand was visibly shaking. From the cold or from that embarrassing display of her lack of restraint, she did not know.

A rush of warm air greeted her as she stepped into what could only be described as a hell hole, well at least for Carmilla. The carpeted flooring was a deep charcoal grey, and the walls were more of the same, but maybe a shade lighter. (* _cue the Fifty Shades of Grey joke_*) A wall of service counters were on the left, while the cubicles and small meeting rooms made up the rest of the floor separate from the lobby. Straight ahead was a fairly large metal door that was armed with a mean looking security guard and what can only be assumed as a ludicrously expensive alarm system. Carmilla always wondered if they kept gold blocks in there, but from the unfortunate sealed nature of the vault, this was one mystery she would not have the pleasure of uncovering.

The room was cloaked in an incredibly gloomy lighting that only added to the serious and professional ambiance of the bank. The only source of color came from the flashes of red hair that buzzed by as the employees worked to obtain high standards of efficiency. Come to think of it, Carmilla has noticed a surprising amount of gingers working here.

As Carmilla scanned the room, she spotted Yoga Ass talking animatedly to Curly Sue over at station one. At this point Carmilla’s sole mission was to deposit her check as fast as she could and hope to God she doesn’t get a restraining order from the little ball of sunshine who seems to have noticed that she’s been standing awkwardly in the middle of the bank. She quickly made her way over to a desk by the door and grabbed a deposit slip so she could get her money and hopefully regain whatever dignity she had left.

All was going well until she heard the obnoxiously perky ginger bidding farewell to the cupcake. Carmilla whipped around in an effort to get out of her way, which in turn ended up in the entire bucket of pens falling to the floor after her elbow ever so graciously plowed it over. Carmilla quickly dropped to her knees and scrambled to get all of the pens back in the container. Her breath hitched as she felt someone touch her right shoulder and then crouch down by her side. Carmilla turned her head slightly and was met with the sight of the girl that had unknowingly robbed her heart.

“You know it might go a little faster if you stopped staring as me,” the girl giggled as she helped throw some of the pens into the bucket.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to stare,” Carmilla admits as her cheeks start to flare up again. “I swear I’m not usually like this.” Carmilla looks down at the floor to avoid whatever look the girl is most likely giving her.

As she stared at the spot on the floor, she picked up a pleasant scent emanating from the girl. She had never been this close to her, and her scent was only adding fuel to the gay inferno that was currently enveloping her mind. As the silence between them lingered, the scent of lilacs seemed to fill the space. Carmilla slowly turned back up to look at the girl, and was taken aback to see the warm smile that graced her face.

“It’s okay. Everyone’s entitled to a bad day every once in awhile.” Her eyes twinkled as she spoke words of kindness that Carmilla hadn’t received in a long time. Carmilla couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face that was mirrored by the tiny woman next to her.

As the girl started to get up she spoke to Carmilla again, “You actually look really familiar. Do we know each other?” Her caramel colored eyes blink back at Carmilla, and all she could think about was how stunning this woman was. Carmilla couldn’t help the little surge of excitement at how she was not the only one who seemed to notice the other. Carmilla casually leaned up against the counter in an effort to gain back her cool exterior when in reality she was panicking at like a cellular level.

“Yeah I’ve seen you around my art studio a lot. You might not recognize me without all the paint I’m usually covered in.”

The girl’s eyes widened in recognition. “Oh my gosh you’re right! I always see you after instructing my beginners yoga class. I’ve looked in your window a few times and your pieces are absolutely breathtaking,” she admits with a light blush tinging her cheeks. “Wow that sounded really creepy! What I meant to say was, you are a very talented artist.”

Now it was the yoga girl’s turn to feel embarrassed as she turned her head towards the ceiling and scratched the back of her neck with her hand. Carmilla smirked back at the girl as she felt her confidence grow. Maybe she wasn’t the only one with a bit of a crush.

“Thank you for noticing my work. It really means a lot cupcake.”

The girls face shot back up at Carmilla as she let out a loud laugh that startled the broody gay. Carmilla immediately realized that she would do just about anything to hear that again.

“Laura,” the girl said as she fought off another round of giggles. The girl must have read the confusion etched across Carmilla’s face and spoke up again. “My name is Laura. Laura Hollis.” The confusion washed away from Carmilla’s features once she realized what she was saying.

“Carmilla Karnstein. And it’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Hollis,” Carmilla playfully replied as she put out her hand for Laura to take. As Laura smiled and shook her hand, Carmilla felt a small shiver run through her whole body. She wasn’t sure where it started or where it ended, but from the look on Laura’s face she could tell she felt it too.

Before either one of them could respond, the front doors of the bank opened with a crash and three shots rang out into the room. Within seconds Carmilla dove on top of Laura, effectively pinning her to the ground and shielding her body behind the desk. Due to their close proximity she could feel Laura’s heart rate spike and all she could think about was how she just needed to keep it beating at any cost.

“If anybody moves I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head! Do what I say and you live!”, echoed a rough voice from back towards the main entrance.

**_Oh fuck._ **


	2. Chapter 2

“If anybody moves I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head! Do what I say and you live!”, echoed a rough voice from back towards the main entrance. Shrieks sounded throughout the lobby causing the gunman to release two more rounds into the high ceiling of the bank. Glass shattered above and came hurtling towards the floor after one of the rounds pierced the skylight that casted over the main entrance.

“One more noise comes out of any of your mouths and I’ll make sure you’ll never scream again,” the man shouted into the building. Another shiver ripped through Carmilla’s body, but this time for less pleasurable reasons.

Carmilla’s ears were still ringing from the gun shots, but she could still hear the loud footsteps of the man as he slowly made his way into the bank. Glass crunched beneath his feet as he stepped, but she had a hard time placing his exact location in the room due to his movements being muffled by the cushioned carpet.

Carmilla buried her face further into Laura’s hair in hopes that the man would pass by without noticing them. As terror flooded through her veins, the faint scent of lilacs numbed the panic as she listened for further noises signaling his whereabouts. Another few pairs of footsteps could be heard entering the building and dread settled in Carmilla’s gut with the realization that Mr. Trigger Happy brought a few friends on his little heist.

Carmilla’s ears perked up as a woman said, “Did you really have to hit the window, you dumb ass? You might as well shoot the fucking panic button in the corner if you want the cops to get here faster.” Carmilla could hear the aggravation in the woman’s voice, but she could also sense that these two knew each other well. “Watch the glass. The last thing we need is for the cops to have forensic evidence.”

“Sorry D-Bear. I didn’t mean to. They were screaming and I didn’t know what to do,” the first man replied shakily like a scolded schoolboy. Carmilla kept in a scoff at the major break in character everyone in the room had just witnessed.

“You’re so fucking pathetic,” another man voiced from the other side of the desk that Carmilla and Laura were currently hiding behind. Carmilla automatically tensed at the third man’s unexpected proximity to them. It was only then that Carmilla remembered the cupcake she was currently covering because Laura adjusted her grip on Carmilla’s waist and held her tightly against her body. She could then feel Laura’s hands slowly rubbing up and down her sides in an effort to relax her before she attracted any unwanted attention.

“Shut it Will! We have a job to do, so focus on the mission and mind your own god damn business”, the woman snapped back.

“Well well well, what do we have here?”, the man presumably named Will spoke as he made his way around the final barrier between them. Carmilla’s eyes finally snapped open as she felt a large steel-toed boot tap the outside of her right thigh. “You know covering her like that won’t really work if I shoot right through you and into her. Kill two birds with one stone, or bullet in this case.” Carmilla could hear the smirk in his voice as he forcefully poked his gun right in between her shoulder blades. Carmilla also felt Laura’s hands splay out on her back as if she was trying to cover and protect as much of her body as she could. Her heart fluttered at the thought, but it quickly went away as she exhaled what could be her last breath.

As Carmilla took in what she thought would be her final moments, she realized that if she had to go now, this was the sight she would want to have. She stared at Laura’s tightly shut eyes and traveled down to her lips which she noticed that the bottom one was caught between the beautiful girl’s teeth. She traced her soft jaw line with her eyes, and mentally tried to smooth out the worry crease between her furrowed eyebrows. Even in complete distress this girl managed to look like a goddess that she would be more than willing to give up her life to protect.

“Will, don’t you dare! That’s not what we’re here for, and I won’t let you fuck up our chances of getting out of this because killing people makes you happy,” D-Bear yelled from across the room.

Will let out a huff and retreated his gun from his target’s back. “Live a little Danny! You’ll understand soon enough.” But before he backed away completely he got up close to Carmilla’s ear and whispered, “Maybe next time.”

“Totally not cool bro!” the man child added from where he stood beside his partner.

Laura’s eyes finally opened as the man with serial killer tendencies made his way back to the others. Carmilla could see the tears pooling, but the girl was clearly too paralyzed to let them escape. She was broken out of her trance as one stray tear tracked its way down Laura’s cheek. She brought her left hand up that was previously clutching the girl’s shoulder and lightly brushed the tear away from her face with the back of her knuckles. Staring back at the girl beneath her, Carmilla could detect the sheer amount of fear present in her eyes and knew that if she didn’t do something quick, Laura would go into a full blown panic attack.

Her whole body could feel the girl’s erratic breathing that seemed to be increasing by the second. Carmilla evened out her own breathing and started to take deep and slow breaths while slightly stroking the girl’s cheek with the pad of her thumb. She continued her controlled breathing and signaled with her chin for Laura to do the same.

After about a minute Carmilla saw some of the panic dissipate from Laura’s eyes, so she chanced a look back towards the entrance where she could see the three gunmen with their backs to her talking to each other in hushed voices. She could see that the woman was ginger and almost as tall as one of the beefy looking men, while the third gunman with shaggy dark brown hair was much shorter and leaner than the other two. They looked busy planning their next move so she turned her head back down and focused her full attention on Laura.

“You’re okay,” Carmilla stated with conviction that could have fooled a jury as she stared deeply into the warm honey brown eyes below her. “You’re okay. I need you to say it,” Carmilla repeated in a tone unexpectedly calm given the severity of their current situation.

“I’m okay,” Laura answered shakily as she kept the steady eye contact that seemed to be the only thing holding her together at this point. Their little bubble was immediately burst as the thugs decided it was time they get their shit together.

“Okay people break’s over! I want everyone to stand with their hands up and slowly seat yourselves over in front of the service desks by the back wall. If any of you try anything, you’re dead,” the dark haired psychopath stated in a calm authoritative voice. As much as Carmilla hated to admit it, she could tell that Will was the unofficial ring leader of the operation. It was strange because the other two seemed nervous and fidgety, while Will on the other hand looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

“Lets go! Move it!”, the other two shouted as everyone started making their way over to the line of desks. The team of robbers had already spent about ten minutes in the bank, so it was clear that they were running out of what very little time they had left.

Carmilla put both of her hands on either side of the petite woman’s head and pushed herself off of the girl. Once she got herself to a standing position she held out both hands and hoisted the girl up after her. This action didn’t go as smoothly as planned because Laura launched forward right into the brunette’s arms. She caught her with ease, but the flutter of nerves that coursed through her body did nothing to calm her growing anxiety. Carmilla looked over the girl to make sure she hadn’t been injured, but once she got to her face, her eyes stopped her in her tracks.

“Come on move it lovebirds!” the ginger giant shouted while pushing them towards the desks.

After getting settled on the floor, Carmilla took the chance to look over her surroundings and assess the situation at hand. From what she could see there were only four other people in the bank when the hold up began. There was Curly Sue, a short haired ginger, a blonde haired woman who looked borderline catatonic at this point, and a dark skinned woman that didn’t look the least bit scared as she stared down the perpetrators. It was then that Carmilla realized that the security guard that she had seen when she walked into the building was nowhere to be found. She glanced around the room to make sure, but what caught her eye immediately made her nauseous. Carmilla had been so preoccupied with protecting Laura that she hadn’t taken a good look at the people holding them captive. Once she laid eyes on the first gunman, she immediately recognized him from the little altercation this morning. Robber #1 was in fact the big meat head who ran into her this morning on her way to the bank. She wasn’t sure if he recognized her, but she was in no mood to find out.

She turned back towards Laura and buried her face back into the girl’s neck to hide her identity from the man. Laura must have enjoyed the extra comfort because she immediately wrapped her arm around Carmilla’s shoulders and pulled her snuggly against her body. Carmilla was so overjoyed with the small action that she forgot her surroundings and nuzzled her nose against the girl’s neck lightly breathing in her scent.

“Thank you, for saving me,” Laura whispered against the side of her forehead before leaving a gentle kiss on her hairline.

“Always,” Carmilla easily replied as she too left a light kiss on the girl’s pulse point. Yup, still beating.

“Listen up everybody. This is how it’s going to go. Someone who works here is going to go with my two friends over there into the back vault and fill these three backpacks with as much money as you can fit. I’m going to give you five minutes to get this done, and for every minute you’re late, one person dies,” Will says with a smirk plastered on his face. “So who has access to the vault?”

The ginger twins immediately looked at each other, but it was the dark skinned woman who raised her hand.

“Okay well Ms.…” Will leaned over the woman with impeccable posture to read her name tag, “Matska Belmonde, it looks like you are the chosen one. Now go take Danny and Kirsch to get my, I mean our, money. But remember, be quick.”

Matska hurriedly got up and made her way over to the metal door that Carmilla had mistaken as the vault. Everyone could see the woman as she swiped her key card through the card reader. The door lock blinked green as a series of clicks were heard and the metal doors finally opened to a long fluorescently lit hallway. Carmilla eventually lost sight of Xena and the giant puppy trailing behind the bank manager whose heels clicked down the never ending hallway into darkness.

The remaining victims stayed silent as they listened for the return of the one woman who held their fate in her hands. Carmilla wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but from the ever tightening grip Laura had on her hand, she knew they were getting close.

“Okay so it seems that little Miss Proper isn’t all that punctual, so it looks like someone has to die,” Will said as he turned back to face the group.

“She still has forty-three seconds,” Laura spoke up from her place on the floor. Carmilla tightened her hold on Laura because she knew her comment just gave him his new target.

“What the fuck did you just say to me sweetheart?” Will said in a sickly sweet voice that was laced with poison.

It was then that Laura shook from Carmilla’s grip and stood up in front of Will. “I said she still has forty-three seconds. Well now thirty-seven. I was counting and you’re wrong. She’s not late.” Laura’s stance screamed determination, but Will only looked amused at her little outburst.

“I think it’s about time someone taught you a lesson about when you should and shouldn’t speak.” Will took a step towards Laura, but Carmilla quickly stood in between the two. She hadn’t enough time to set up her stance so when Will shoved her, she fell backwards and smashed her head on the edge of the service desk. She blacked out for only seconds, but when she came to she saw Will choking Laura against the wall to her left. The artist lunged at his back and managed to pry him off of Laura. The girl unconsciously slumped against the ground once there was no one to hold her up. Carmilla went to catch her, but was caught off guard by the gun pointed directly at her. Before she had time to react the gun went off and everything started moving in slow motion.

As the bullet ripped through Carmilla, blood splattered in patterns behind her on the wall which could have rivaled some of the art she held in her studio. All one tone of crimson red, but still so diverse in movement, and so tragically chaotic. Carmilla couldn’t help but feel envious of this accidental masterpiece that was and wasn’t hers all at the same time. Even in the art of death there is beauty, but this piece will never be seen on a canvas or hanging in a gallery. This final painting was something created by fate and could never be contained in something so material. No, this painting was a final gift to her as she leaves a world that had never given her any kindness. Except Laura. To know someone for so little time, but develop such strong feelings for was something Carmilla had never experienced before.

 _Wait where is Laura?_ Carmilla strained to hear any signs of the girl’s movements near her, but instead she could faintly make out the voices of Danny and Kirsch panicking in the background over Will’s “major fuckup.” She knew she should be in a tremendous amount of pain, but all she could focus on was how uncomfortable her body temperature felt. A coldness started to settle into her skin from blood loss, and all she could think about was how stupid she had been to not bringing a jacket. Carmilla tried to slightly turn her head to find Laura, but realized she was too weak for even this small movement and was afraid she would pass out if she exerted herself any further. Carmilla had hoped that at least one person would come over to help her, but they were all too afraid to move after Will’s lovely display of discipline. She stayed perfectly still until she heard a soft whimper coming from the floor a few feet to her left.

“Laura?”, Carmilla managed to croak out from her spot on the floor. She winced as her movement sent a wave of pain through her withering body. Something or someone shuffled along the floor just out of her line of vision.

“Carm! Oh my god, no Carm!”, Laura sobbed as she made her way over to the woman lying in a puddle of her own blood that drenched the carpet red beneath her. “There’s blood all over the floor!”

“I thought this place just needed a little color,” Carmilla weakly bantered with a slight chuckle at the blonde. She immediately regretted the action when her vision started to blur into a mess of black dots and color swirls.

“Oh don’t you dare pass out on me,” Laura frantically replied while she quickly checked over the artist’s body and found the entry and exit wounds on Carmila’s shoulder just above her heart. She ignored her rising panic in favor of focusing on Carmilla because any wrong moves could end in tragedy. The injured woman’s eyes slowly started closing again so Laura grabbed her face and pulled her in close before settling Carmilla’s head into her lap so her shoulder was slightly raised off the floor to give her a good angle to apply pressure to the wounds.

“Carm you need to stay awake. Just look at me. Stay focused. I’m going to put some pressure on the wounds so you don’t bleed out. Okay? I need you to open your eyes and blink twice if you understand,” the cupcake said in a high pitched voice showing the fear that she was trying so hard to quell. Carmilla made an effort to open her eyes and noticed that Laura had a large gash on her forehead and some bruising around her neck from the attack that led to this unfortunate situation. She couldn’t help it when her eyes started to water from the realization that she couldn’t protect the woman from harm even though she tried her hardest. Carmilla blinked twice and the tears rolled down her face, smearing any blood that was left in its path.

Lafontaine, the short haired ginger, slowly shuffled over to the two and decided to try and help out while the robbers were busy fighting. They ripped off the black bank employee shirt that they were wearing over their tank and handed it over to Laura who immediately used it to put pressure on the wounds after nodding her head in thanks. Seeing that Laura had the bleeding under control, Laf made their way back over to Perry, aka Curly Sue, and held her in their arms to try and gain some sense of comfort back. Carmilla was surprised that Laura’s grip had an absence of shaking, which she had come to expect from the smaller woman during stressful situations. Laura felt stable but as she was leaning over her face she could feel the tears that were falling freely from the smaller woman’s eyes and landing on her face to mix with her own. She wanted nothing more than to wipe them away, but it was getting harder and harder to stay awake.

It was then as she started to drift that Carmilla heard the sirens of at least twenty cop cars and what she hoped was also a few ambulances. Every time she could feel herself slipping she focused on Laura’s presence and the sweet smell of lilacs that drifted in the air.

“Help is on the way baby. Just hold on a little longer,” Laura whispered her pleas into her hair as she left light kisses on her blood smeared forehead. Carmilla’s mouth twitched up as she felt Laura grab her hand with her free one that wasn’t currently keeping her alive and squeezed. She used what energy she had left to squeeze her hand back in hopes of passing on the message that she’ll do everything she can to hold on.

She’s not sure when she passed out, but when she came to she could hear more loud gun shots and unfamiliar voices yelling to get down. Carmilla could feel Laura leaning over her body as she tried to protect her just as she did to Laura only an hour ago.

Once the gunfire ceased all she could hear was loud noises and she could see lights flashing behind her eyelids.

“Please ma’am you’ll need to move back so we can do our job,” a calm voice said close by. It was then that she heard sobbing and felt Laura being pulled away from her fragile body.

As gloved strangers worked to keep her alive she started to slip into her unconscious, but before she did she heard Laura’s voice yell at her, “You’re going to live, you hear me? When you wake up I’ll be there waiting for you just like I will be for a long time to come. You have to make it back to me because I love you Carmilla Karnstein!”

**_Don’t worry cupcake. I’ll make it back to you. Always._ **

Carmilla’s vision faded to black as a vast expanse of constellations filled the empty void of her mind. If she looked hard enough, she could see a girl’s face smiling back at her in the constellation of stars created by her imagination. Her last thoughts were of Laura as she slipped deeper into her unconscious as the faint smell of lilacs filled her soul with hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and definitely let me know what you thought in the comments below! Suggestions are always welcome:)


	3. Chapter 3

**Beep. Beep. Beep.** Carmilla on instinct went to murder yet another defenseless alarm clock when she realized she couldn’t move her arm to deliver the fatal blow. Something warm and soft was weighing down on her right arm that rested by her side. The surface she was currently laying on felt foreign and cold on the left side of her body, but her right felt pleasantly warm as it was pressed further into what she presumed was mattress. She would have panicked if it weren’t for the strange calmness that uncontrollably washed over her body as her senses slowly became more alert. The beeping continued, but slowed to a less obnoxious tempo that ticked throughout the room. She began to relax as the noise stabilized into a familiar metronome count of a waltz she could almost remember.

_1,2,3. 1,2,3. 1,2,3._

She slit her eyes open slightly to be met with a vast expanse of darkness that her eyes needed more time to adjust to. As she looked around with blurry vision she could see beautifully colored lights luminescing above her head. If she moved her eyes fast enough they created light paths that lay in their wake like fairies flying through the dark forest. They danced in the night as they twinkled like constellations her mind has become so familiar with. Before she had time to question the state of her mental health, her vision sharpened and she could see that these fairies were in fact monitor screens and other pieces of unidentifiable technology that blinked combinations of words and numbers she could not make out the meaning to.

_Where the fuck am I?_

It was then that the warm mass restricting her arm noticeably shifted and Carmilla stiffened as she tried to decipher where the hell she was. It wasn’t until she heard a small sigh that everything started to piece back together. _The buyer’s check, the bank, the robbery, the gun going off, and then nothing._

As her memory started to fill in the gaps of her mind, she could almost feel the bullet tearing a hole through her shoulder as it did back at the bank. She hoped that it was not still in her body because she couldn’t live with it existing inside her. Maybe it was the medication talking, but she didn’t want something so toxic and full of hate poisoning her from the inside out.

She kept playing over the events in her head until she got to a block in the road. She remembered everything up until the moment she got shot, but the rest was still a blur. She didn’t remember how she survived, what happened to the dimwit squad, how she got to the place she was in now, or what happened to Laura. **_Laura._**

Carmilla tried desperately to look down at her right side to see if it was her Laura clinging to her arm, but her body was still not fully cooperating with her brain. She reclosed her eyes and breathed in deep in hopes of finding something she needed more than air. And there it was, lilacs.

“Laura,” she croaked, but it came out as a hoarse whisper. “Laura,” she tried again and it sounded slightly louder than her first attempt, but not enough to attract the girl’s attention. She could feel a burning in her throat, but she ignored it as she tried to wake the girl beside her.

On her third attempt Laura began to stir and tightened the grip she had on Carmilla as she buried her face into the crook of Carmilla’s elbow. She would have thought the action was utterly adorable if the movement hadn’t caused her opposite shoulder to shift. Pain rippled through her body and she let out an audible gasp.

Her unintentional response must have done the trick because the girl on her arm shot out of her seat like a god damn jack-in-the-box and fell to the floor with a loud thud. The sudden movement caused Carmilla to panic because she still couldn’t see, but then she heard the girl scramble to get up and a click was heard causing the room to be bathed in a hazy yellow light.

Carmilla squinted and saw that Laura had turned on the small lamp that was resting on the nightstand in the corner next to an uncomfortable looking chair, but the sight in front of her immediately grabbed her attention.

The honey blonde who had been haunting her memories stood disheveled in front of her with a slack jaw expression painted across her face. Laura had changed out of the clothes she had last seen her in earlier and now wore a red pair of sweatpants and a gray tank top that hugged her torso. Her hair was tossed into a messy bun with two stray curls peeking out by her ears. From the dark circles under her eyes Carmilla could tell that the girl hadn’t slept well in awhile. The gleam that she had come to adore lacked its usual sparkle in the eyes that stared blankly at her. Carmilla’s heart twinged with the thought of Laura was losing sleep because of her.

The both stayed completely still and stared at each other until Carmilla felt that she needed to break the unbearable silence that cloaked the air with an uncomfortable stillness.

“I look that bad huh?” Carmilla asked shyly as she attempted to get some feeling back in her right arm. She didn’t dare to move her left in fear that the pain would come back. After she let the words out she immediately regretted them because Laura’s face shifted from shocked to broken as her features portrayed a range of emotions that she couldn’t keep up with.

The statement seemed to shake Laura out of her trance because the next thing Carmilla knew, Laura was falling to her knees and sobbing into her hands at the side of the hospital bed. Her head rested against the guardrail as waves of emotion hit the poor girl like a tsunami. It took Carmilla a second to process what had just happened, but she soon reached out her right hand and tucked the stray curls behind the sobbing girl’s ear. She scratched her fingers along the back of Laura’s neck in what she hoped was a comforting gesture until Laura’s sobs started to subside into whimpers. As her mumbling became more coherent Carmilla could make out the words, “Please don’t leave me,” repeated over and over as if it were a mantra. As a child she used to do the same thing and she believed that if something was spoken enough, it would become true.

She just woke up, but Carmilla couldn’t ignore the feeling that these words were not new to her. A tear slipped down her cheek with the realization that Laura had probably been repeating this as she lay unconscious before her. Close enough to touch, but somehow still completely unreachable. The body and the mind are rendered useless without the other. She couldn’t even imagine how she would have felt if the situation had been reversed.

“I know baby. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere I promise,” Carmilla managed to get out with a small break in her voice. Laura remained with her head down and her shoulders shook with emotions not yet released. “Laura please look at me.”

Carmilla slowly moved her shaky hand under the girl’s chin and tilted it up until she could see honey brown eyes staring back at her own. They shown brightly as new tears lined the edges threatening to escape. She moved her good arm up so that she could gently brush and soothe the worry creasing the smaller girl’s brows. Patterns traced onto her face like promises written on stone. _I will never leave you._

“I thought you were dead. I was so scared. I…I”, Laura stuttered out, but Camilla quickly shushed her and cradled her delicate face in her hand. Laura leaned into the touch and Carmilla could feel the wet tracks left along the smooth skin.

“Come here,” Carmilla said as she made an effort to lift her arm signaling for Laura to climb up over the rail. Laura made sure to be as careful as she could and laid her head on the pillow next to the other girl’s and just looked over her body with concern.

“Carm, I should really call the nurses so they can check up on you. They don’t have any more rounds until morning and you need to be looked at.” She glanced at Carmilla with furrowed brows as she contemplated getting out of the bed to hit the call button.

“No. Please, I just want some time to process everything and we can do the whole doctors with a million questions thing tomorrow. For now, I just want to lie here with you and get some sleep before hell begins.” Carmilla had already closed her eyes so she missed the warm smile that took over the cupcake’s face as she placed her head back down on the pillow with her lips lightly grazing Carmilla’s neck. The raven haired girl was lulled back to sleep by the warm steady breathing of the girl who lay by her side and the sweet smell that lingered in the air. She had yet to worry about the strong feelings she possessed for a girl she barely even knew, yet still lay beside her in this twin sized bed.

* * *

 

Carmilla was rudely awoken the next morning by numerous perky nurses and persistent doctors that felt the need to poke and prod her sore body at this ungodly hour. When she woke up Laura wasn’t next to her, but she could hear her talking with whom she could only presume were her doctors outside in the hall. When they all filed back into the room she noticed that they all had smiles on their faces, but Laura’s was by far the brightest.

“Well Ms. Karnstein I’m glad you decided to come back.”

Carmilla nodded at the doctor and kept in whatever sarcastic comment was flitting through her head. Her increase in pain medication happened to be directly correlated to her slightly better mood so she didn’t feel the need to roast Captain Obvious with the bald head. The effects of the drugs were so glorious that they almost made up for the million and a half scans and blood tests she had to go through in the past 24 hours. Almost. Although it didn’t hurt that throughout the whole process Laura had been by her side.

Anytime she has felt uncomfortable or irritated, Laura would come over and make it all go away by either combing her fingers through her unruly locks or humming quietly as she held her hand between hers. It was strange how someone so new could feel so familiar.

They had also been questioned by police about the incident and a few things had come to light that left her feeling uneasy. Apparently after she had blacked out Will Luce, the gunman who literally ripped her a new hole, had escaped and no one has seen him since. She also found out that the other 2/3 of the dimwit squad had been taken into custody with minor injuries, much to her displeasure. She thought the least the police could do was throw in a few good punches to the face, but their loss. Laura had described them as Thelma and Louise only less gay and more alive. That joke had earned her a chuckle, but was still highly inaccurate. She also had found out that after her emergency surgery she had been unconscious for nearly 48 hours due to her body’s reaction to the trauma. That was 48 hours that she would spend her life trying to make up to Laura for.

Her stay at the hospital had turned out to be such a whirlwind that Laura and her hadn’t even had time to talk about how they feel about everything that had happened. There was also the question nagging at the back of Carmilla’s mind about the events after she had been shot that her memory was so conveniently missing. She couldn’t help but feel that she was missing something important. Something that had to do with Laura.

Carmilla was snapped out of her thoughts as her primary surgeon strolled back into her room. There were so many doctors and nurses over the past few days, but she was pretty sure this one was named Mel. She liked her because she was the only one who cut the shit and told her how it was. Laura, who had been sound asleep curled up into her side, opened her bleary eyes at the arrival of the doctor. She slowly sat up but kept her fingers entwined with Carmilla’s.

Mel glanced down at their hands briefly and flashed a smile at the two. What the girls didn’t know about was the running bet going around the staff floor on whether those two were a couple or not. Over the past week the blonde had yet to leave the brunette’s side for more than a couple of hours at a time, so Mel had set her bet on them being a couple. Mel still wasn’t 100% sure, but handholding was evidence enough to at least earn her the $20 she put in back.

“Okay Carmilla. It looks like all of your vitals are completely stable and your wound has healed nicely. You’ll need to go to regular physical therapy sessions, but I’m confident that you’re ready to get out of here after you sign these discharge papers,” the doctor said as she scanned her clipboard.

“Fuck yes!” Carmilla whooped, but hissed out in pain as her air fist bump disturbed her injured shoulder. Laura was quick to soothe her as she rubbed her lower back with small circles to ease the tension.

“As long as you never do that again,” Mel chuckled as she looked at the couple. “There is also another little condition.”

“Ugghh doc please cut to the chase. I need to get the hell out of here before I lose it,” Carmilla whined back.

“I know you said that you don’t have any next of kin, but in order for us to release you, we need verification that someone will be with you for the next 48 hours.”

Carmilla’s stomach bottomed out with the thought of having to call her mother for help. They hadn’t spoken in years and “Hey mom I got shot” probably wasn’t the best conversation starter.

“I don’t think I have anyone who can do that,” Carmilla replied as she desperately tried to hide how pathetic she felt.

“What? Of course you do! Where are the papers Dr. Callis? I’d like to verify that she’ll be staying with me,” Laura said as if it were the easiest decision she’s ever made.

Carmilla couldn’t help the warmth that spread through her body, but this was just too much. She couldn’t accept.

“No way cupcake. You already took a week off of work to take care of my sorry ass and I won’t be a burden for you anymore. I appreciate everything you’ve done, but I refuse to stop you from living your life,” she stated with tears building behind her eyelids. Pain once again filled her body, but it wasn’t of the physical variety this time.

“Is that what you think you are to me? A burden?” Laura couldn’t hide the hurt in her voice from Carmilla’s confession. She wanted to explain why she was really doing this, but she didn’t want an audience. She tried to look at Carmilla’s face as she waited for a response but it hung low as the brunette suddenly became fascinated with her own fingers. Hurt was quickly replaced by a look of determination as she turned back to face the doctor.

“Nonsense. I’m taking her home with me and that’s final.” Laura stamped her foot on the bed and tried her best to look intimidating, but instead ended up just looking constipated.

“Well okay. As long as Carmilla signs off you’ll be good to go. I’ll leave these here and be back in about 30 minutes.” Mel left the discharge papers at the foot of the bed and fast walked her ass out of the room with impressive speed. She sensed a storm coming and she was not going to get stuck in it.

As soon as the doctor was out of view Laura turned back to Carmilla with a fire smoldering in her eyes. Carmilla could feel her eyes burning a hole in the side of her face, but stubbornly avoided eye contact in an effort to save what little was left of her dignity.

“Carmilla Karnstein you are not a burden. Do you hear me? I stayed by your side because I care deeply about you and if something happened to you while I was away I would never be able to forgive myself,” Laura sputtered out the end as a fresh wave of emotions washed over her. “I know we don’t know each other that well, but I’d like to if you’d let me.”

This last part caught Carmilla’s attention and her eyes shot up looking for any signs of dishonestly. And to her relief, all she was met with was sincerity.

“Okay,” she whispered into the empty space between them.

“Okay,” Laura smiled back. “Wait okay to the you’re coming home with me part or the getting to know each other part?” she asked clearly confused by her simple answer.

“To both. Although usually those things happen in the reverse order cupcake, but I like a girl who’s forward,” Carmilla bantered back as a beautiful blush spread across the blonde’s cheeks.

“Shut it sassy pants!” Before Carmilla even had time to look offended Laura launched herself at the broody girl and engulfed her in a sweet embrace. Carmilla winced due to the pressure on her shoulder, but didn’t let go.

Laura must have noticed because she slowly released her grip and whispered into her ear, “Sorry babe.” She left a gentle kiss on her cheek as an apology and backed off of the bed. “Okay now you fill out those papers and I’ll go find a chair.”

Before Carmilla could ask what the fuck she needed a chair for, the girl had already sprinted out of the room.

As soon as she was finishing up the last page of the paperwork Laura came back with what she was referring to as a chair. A wheelchair that is.

“Nope. That’s not happening cutie. I’m fine walking on my own thank you very much.”

A pout formed as Laura’s face as she stood her ground with the chair. “Carm it’s hospital policy. Either you get in the chair or you don’t leave.”

It was Carmilla’s turn to pout as she contemplated her options. She wasn’t confident that she could outrun Laura at this point so she stood with a huff and plopped herself ungracefully in the seat.

“Happy now?”

“As a clam,” Laura replied smugly as they rolled their way out of the building with Laura humming happily behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for my lateness, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter none the less! And yes I did include a Wynonna Earp quote. (WayHaught for the win!) Let me know if you're interested in me continuing the story:)


	4. Chapter 4

**_Whoosh._** The final set of sliding doors glided open, eliminating the last barrier between the hospital and the outside world. The girls had been cooped up in those sterile hospital walls for so long that their senses were overwhelmed by the abrupt contrast of the atmosphere.

A brisk wind sailed passed them and cleared the static air that had been trapped inside their lungs for the past week. The air felt cold and rejuvenating, but the bright sun’s rays cast a warmth into their skin that almost balanced out the cold. Without the hospital’s soundproof walls, they could now hear the traffic and restless white noise that lit the city up with life. Carmilla was brought back to reality as she could feel Laura’s soft hands running up and down her bare arms in an attempt to create some friction. Laura had brought her a tee shirt and sweatpants for her to wear out because the outfit she came in with now unfortunately had a hole ripped through it. Carmilla’s body immediately reacted causing goose bumps to sprout all over her pale arms.

“Oh shoot! I should have brought you a jacket too! Let’s get you into the car before you freeze,” Laura ranted to herself as she set the passengers seat farther back, clicking the lever as she maneuvered it into a more spacious setting.

As Laura adjusted the seating Carmilla looked over the vehicle that seemed to be her ride out of this hellhole. It was a yellow two-seater Jeep wrangler with a brown hard top and fog lights lining the top rack. Carmilla had to hold in a chuckle because she couldn’t help but notice that the car was very Laura. The vibrant yellow matched the girl’s bubbly personality, and she could catch a glimpse of a Harry Potter bumper sticker proudly marked on the back that showcased her inner dork that has only begun to immerge.

Carmilla never understood the reasons behind having a car in the city. The traffic was always horrendous, and she was usually within walking distance from all of the essential locations she frequented so she had never really needed it. She did own a matte black Harley Davidson sportster forty-eight motorcycle for the occasional road trip, but she didn’t feel now was the best time to share this bit of information with Laura. Maybe later.

“Okay that should make getting you in easier,” Laura spoke with her head still inside the vehicle. Carmilla would deny any accusations of how glued her eyes were to Laura’s ass as she was bent over the seat setting up the final touches for her.

“What cupcake, no booster seat?”, Carmilla sarcastically commented as she hoisted herself up onto her feet. She clearly misjudged her current coordination capability because she ended up lurching forward with her head directly aimed at the side of the open car door.

Before her head had a chance to make solid contact, Laura sidestepped herself between the two, cushioning Carmilla’s fall with her athletic body. All would have been well if Carmilla’s head hadn’t made direct contact with the shorter girl’s stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of her. She also didn’t want to admit that the blonde’s abs were quite possibly as hard as the car door. When she had pictured touching the girl’s abs for the first time, this wasn’t exactly what she had in mind.

“Okay that hurt. Let me help you before you end up hurting yourself again. Or me.” Laura gasped out with the last part mumbled under her breath in slight agitation.

Carmilla loosened her death grip on the other girl’s shirt with her right hand and stood up straight in front of Laura. The brunette gasped at their close proximity and backed up to an arms length in order to regain her composure. She at least had the decency to look guilty as she readjusted her left arm that was tucked tightly to her body in a sling. Laura glanced down at the gesture and her gaze softened from a murderous glare to a less threatening one. The blonde released a breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding and tucked a stray curl behind Carmilla’s ear that had come loose during her little stumble.

“Alright, get in there before your head tries to assault my stomach again.” Laura smirked as she could see a blush blossoming on the injured girl’s neck as she ungracefully clambered into the car, careful to avoid any further damage. Once situated Laura gently shut the door behind her and made her way over to the driver’s side.

As Laura peeled out of Toronto General Hospital’s drop off/pick up station, Carmilla began to fidget with the realization that this was the first time that she was completely alone with Laura. To distract herself, she pulled down the visor above her head and opened the mirror cover. Horror overtook her features as she was met with a reflection of her that had an unfortunate resemblance to a female version of Tarzan during his stay in the jungle. She desperately started combing her fingers through her hair in an effort to tame the mane, but ended up tangling it even further.

Laura looked away from the road to see what the sudden commotion was about and couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of the woman who looked like she was doing her best impression of Cousin It from the Adams Family.

“Hey. Hey babe stop,” Laura said as she placed a hand over Carmilla’s. “We can figure that out later once we get you a proper shower and a generous amount of detangler.”

Carmilla could feel the embarrassment burning in the pit of her stomach as she lowered her hand back into her lap and looked out the side window at the glass buildings passing by. They gleamed in the light and she could see the distorted image of Laura’s car as if it were a reflection on rippling water. The ride became silent again as they drove on, but Carmilla had to get something out in the open before she lost her nerve.

“I really appreciate you telling the doctor that you would take care of me, but I’m okay on my own. I’m used to being alone, so I’m sure I can manage this.” She made a gesture to all of herself as Laura side eyed her, oblivious to where this conversation was going.

“My apartment is only a few blocks from the bank so you can just drop me off there.” Carmilla didn’t want the girl to leave, but asking her to babysit her was just too much. She refused to become a charity case.

As if reading her mind, Laura turned her head once she was fully stopped at a red light and waited patiently until Carmilla looked up with questioning and vulnerable eyes. “Carmilla I’m not going to leave you to fend for yourself. Five minutes ago you almost got your butt kicked by a stationary door, so excuse me for being skeptical of your survival skills.” Carmilla knew she had a point, but was far too proud to ever admit that out loud. “Now you’re going to stay with me at my house and let me take care of you for the next 48 hours. Are we clear?” She didn't have to look over at the raven haired girl to know that she was shocked at her authoritative tone. She never liked to be pushy, but she had no other options.

“Crystal,” Carmilla replied with a slight tug at the corners of her lips as she sunk back into her seat. Laura smirked to herself and proceeded on route to the brunette’s temporary home for the next two days. Carmilla couldn’t help the excitement that was building at the thought of having Laura alone to herself for that long. What she didn’t know was that Laura was feeling the exact same way.

As Laura turned on her blinker Carmilla was momentarily confused due to the fact that they were stopped in front of a storefront shop called Betty’s Bakery.

“Cupcake, you live in a bakery? I so should have seen this coming.”

Laura rolled her eyes as she turned into the shady alleyway between the bakery and another large commercial building.

“Correction, I live _above_ a bakery.”

Carmilla now only noticed that above the bakery was about three floors that looked to serve as apartment rentals for city dwellers like herself. Carmilla was mildly impressed with the location and wondered how much Laura made at her yoga studio to be able to afford a decent place so central in the city.

The smaller woman pulled into a secluded parking lot behind the building that looked like it could have been a set location from an old Ninja Turtles movie. Carmilla would be sure to keep her eye out for any large talking rats.

Cardboard boxes lay stacked by the bakery’s back wall and a grated staircase led up to platform landings on each of the above floors. Since the back lot was encased by brick buildings, the only sound that could be heard were the echo of drips from various rusted leaky pipes as the water fell towards the pavement. Overall the place had a very gloomy feel to it that differed greatly to the front’s vibrant and alluring appearance.

Laura’s nervous energy was coming off of her in waves as she watched Carmilla take in her surroundings with wide eyes. After about a minute of silence she spoke out into the quiet car.

“Have you ever been to Betty’s?” Laura turned off the car and glanced over at her seemingly mute passenger.

The question seemed to catch Carmilla off guard as she was still on the lookout for large animals with human intelligence and vigilante tendencies. Some of her pain meds from the hospital still coursed through her blood stream causing “slightly” irrational thoughts.

She finally made eye contact with Laura with a glazed over stare that needed an extra second to stabilize. “No I can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure. I’ll have to make an effort to stop by once I’m confident inanimate objects aren’t out to kill me. I live only two blocks from here and I’ve been dying to find a good bakery.”

“It’s definitely worth a try. Although a little warning, their chocolate chip cookies may be irresistible, but Betty’s personality…not so much.”

Carmilla let out a chuckle as the blonde hopped out of the driver’s side and made her way over to Carmilla. She opened her door and held a hand out to the dark haired girl for her to take.

“After you m’lady,” Laura spoke with a slight accent and a blush tinging her cheeks.

Carmilla smirked at the nerd as she let Laura help her out of the vehicle. Once she was fully planted on the ground she realized that she still hadn’t regained her balance. She started careening over to the side once again, but before she could fully face-plant she felt a strong arm snake around her waist and pull her close.

“Oh no you don’t! We’re going to have to work on that.” She readjusted her arm so that Carmilla could secure hers around the smaller woman’s shoulders comfortably. “At least you didn’t heat butt me this time.”

“Thanks. And I’m sorry about earlier,” Carmilla simply stated to save herself from further embarrassment.

Instead of torturing the girl, Laura just held her tight against her side and helped the brunette over to the stairs. Laura took the opportunity to look at Carmilla’s profile up close as they moved together. If she wasn’t busy holding the girl up, she would have swooned over how incredibly sharp the girl’s jawline was. She leaned her head in and left a light kiss there as if she was marking a spot that she planned on worshipping at a later date.

A warm smile spread on Carmilla’s face at the affectionate gesture of the smaller girl. She’s had plenty of women compliment her looks before, but Laura’s unspoken approval meant more to her that anyone else’s ever could.

The women made their way up to Laura’s second floor apartment, and as they reached the door Laura had to let her go for a moment in order to fish out her keys from her backpack. Carmilla’s first instinct was to sneak up behind the blonde and distract her by kissing the back of her neck and trailing her hands around her torso. She quickly pushed away that idea as Laura swung the door open and motioned for Carmilla to step inside.

“Come on in to my humble abode,” Laura said as she nervously gestured to the apartment with flailing hands.

Carmilla had to suck in a breath as she looked around the spacious apartment. When she had seen it from the outside she hadn’t realized that Laura’s apartment was the **entire** second floor. The front door opened into a roomy living area that consisted of vibrant colored furniture and slate grey walls. The floorboards were made of a dark colored wood that contrasted beautifully with the lively seating. Laura had a large canary yellow L-shaped couch, and two black plush armchairs seated on either side of it with yellow decoration pillows to match the couch. All of the seating faced a huge flat screen TV that hung mounted to the wall. Around the TV shelved hundreds of books and dvds housed in a full wall of wooden bookshelves that stood from floor to ceiling. The shelving contained built in lights that cast a warm glow into the room.

Farther into the apartment Carmilla could see to the left there was a small, but very modern open kitchen with all stainless steel appliances and black cabinets. The kitchen island had a speckled granite countertop to match both the cabinets and the room color. Carmilla thought that Laura must not have had much say in the design because sleek and modern weren’t really adjectives she would use to describe the girl.

On the far right half of the open area, Carmilla could see out of four large floor to ceiling windows that looked out into the busy street below. And from this angle she could also see a dark hallway that led to the right where she assumed the bedroom and bathroom were.

To say Carmilla was impressed was a vast understatement to what she was feeling right now. This apartment was absolute perfection in comparison to the shit hole she called home. What she still needed to figure out was how in the world Laura was able to afford a place like this.

Laura softly cleared her throat in an attempt to grab Carmilla’s attention.

“So what do you think?” Laura shyly turned her face to look at the floor as the other girl tried to piece together what she wanted to say.

“Laura this place is amazing! Had I known this is where I would be staying I wouldn’t have put up so much of a fight,” Carmilla said cheekily as Laura returned a playful glare at the comment.

“Well I’m glad you like it,” Laura said sarcastically as she started to move towards the dark hallway. “Now if you follow me madam, I will show you where you’ll be residing here for your stay at the Hollis resort.” Carmilla smirked and slowly made her way to where Laura was.

The blonde opened the last door at the end of the hall which led to an deep amethyst colored bedroom with intricate white crown molding framing the room. The large queen sized bed in the center looked soft and inviting as the white sheets lay perfectly made before her.

“You can stay in my room to sleep. Hopefully the mattress will help with some of your shoulder pain. The one at the hospital was murder on my back, so I can only imagine how you felt.”

“Well I was unconscious or hopped up on drugs for most of my stay so I wouldn’t really know.”

Carmilla meant it as a joke, but she caught the slight wince that the smaller girl gave at the mention of the incident. Before she had a chance to backtrack Laura cut her off by changing the subject.

“Well you’re here now so you can enjoy everything I have to offer.”

Carmilla quirked an eyebrow at the woman in front of her as she replied, “Care to elaborate?”

A blush enveloped Laura’s face as she huffed at her unfortunate choice of wording.

“Don’t make me regret this!” She pointed an accusatory finger at Carmilla’s face, but couldn’t hide the hint of a smile that crept onto her inviting lips.

Carmilla was going to pretend offense, but a more pressing concern bubbled to the surface of her thoughts. “Wait, cutie. Where are you going to sleep?”

Laura shifted her gaze back out into the hall and simply stated, “the couch” with a shrug of her shoulders as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“No way creampuff. I’m not going to invade your house and take your bed while you hurt yourself by sleeping on the couch. Jesus Laura! You’ve been sleeping in a fucking hospital chair for the whole week looking after my sorry ass. For fuck's sake, I’m not going to make you sleep on the couch!”

“Seriously?! First of all, your ass should not be sorry. And second of all, I slept on a hospital chair only after you saved my life Carm! If sleeping on a couch and taking care of you is something I can do to help pay you back for some of the sacrifices that you made for me then I sure as Hogwarts will,” Laura rambled as both girls started to get riled up. A vibrant shade of pink resurfaced on Laura’s face, but this time it wasn’t out of embarrassment.

“Laura, you don’t owe me anything. I jumped in front of that gun on my own accord. You didn’t make me do anything, so you have nothing to pay back!” Carmilla’s voice was laced with frustration as she tried to make the girl see that nothing that had happened was her fault. She was tired of seeing the guilt flicker behind Laura’s eyes every time she winced in pain or flinched at loud noises.

“Carmilla you almost died saving the life of someone you barely even knew. You could have let me die, but instead you risked everything to protect me. You could have died because of me!” Laura was yelling now as her eyes glossed over with tears threatening to spill. Her voice was hoarse with desperation and something Carmilla couldn’t quite place. Fear maybe.

This was the straw that broke the horse’s back as all of the fight left Carmilla’s tense body. She slowly made her way over to the emotional girl and cupped her cheek in her good hand. Laura looked up at her and was met with pure adoration and affection in the raven haired girl’s dark eyes. Carmilla stroked her cheek a few times before feeling the girl nuzzle into her hand.

“Sweetheart, I wouldn’t have died **because of you.** I was willing to die **for you.** In my book, those are two completely different things. Now I’m not going to stand here and try to explain to you why I did what I did because honestly I have no clue. I know we don’t really know each other, but I immediately felt a connection with you and I reacted purely on instinct. And I don’t know where this leaves us, but I want you to know that none of this could ever be your fault. Don’t ever blame yourself for a decision I was more than willing to make. I will never regret saving you.”

Laura gave a watery laugh as she moved forward to gingerly enclose Carmilla in her arms. Carmilla relaxed into the embrace as she wrapped her right arm around the smaller girl’s waist. Her left arm that rest between the two could feel the heat coursing through their bodies.

“Thank you,” Laura whispered into Carmilla’s hairline as the brunette left a feather light kiss on her pulse point. Yup, still beating.

Laura stepped back after a few minutes and hastily wiped her face free from tears and looked back towards the taller girl with a toothy smile.

“Well now that we’ve settled that you’ll be sleeping in my bed, I’m going to go order us some takeout and you can take a nap until the food gets here. After we eat we can worry about getting you showered and into some clean clothes that don’t smell like antiseptics,” Laura informed as she gave Carmilla a look that screamed ‘try me bitch.’ She crinkled her nose and left the room with an extra swing in her hips.

Carmilla decided now was not the time to argue so she took off her boots and made her way over to the soft plushy bed. She didn’t want to say this out loud, but their little dispute really took a lot out of her. As soon as she hit the bed she was out like a light.

Laura was expecting a little more of a fight, but was pleasantly surprised to find her house guest sprawled and out cold after she had called for the takeout. She had hoped Carmilla would like cheese pizza because she hadn’t thought to ask her any of her food preferences.

As she got closer to the brunette she could hear muffled snoring coming from her favorite yellow pillow in which the girl decided to shove her face into. She laughed as she pulled the comforter over the sleeping girl to keep her warm. She bent over and placed a single kiss to her mess of raven locks and whispered into the dark room, “Sweet dreams Carm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super confident with this chapter, but I hope you guys still enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know what you thought:)


	5. Chapter 5

Laura quietly shut the door after giving the pizza delivery guy two twenties and a polite wave in her thanks. Carmilla was still sound asleep in her bedroom, and she’d be damned if she woke her accidentally. She knew the woman was tired by the way her eyes drooped during their heated discussion, so she thought she would give her a few more minutes to rest before waking her for food.

She quietly padded over to the kitchen area and placed the two pizzas into the oven so they wouldn’t cool down too much by the time they decided to eat. After closing the appliance, she turned her attention to the contents lying on her island.

Dr. Callis had given Carmilla some heavy duty pain killers, as well as anti-inflammatory medication to help with any internal swelling. She had hoped that this wasn’t an invasion of privacy, but she turned over the bottles and read all of the instructions and precautions so that she could administer the correct dose when the girl needed it. She was in her care for the next 48 hours after all.

As she rolled the pill bottles around in her hands, her mind drifted back to when she had first arrived at the hospital.

_“Ms. Hollis I understand this is a stressful situation you’re in right now, but I can’t let you into the room unless you are a family member or we have the patient’s permission. Seeing as though she’s still unconscious, there’s nothing I can do. It’s hospital policy,” the surgeon’s assistant coldly stated after she had begged for an update on the woman who saved her life. She had been causing a scene ever since she had arrived at the hospital because no one would give her any information on Carmilla._

_“No please I need to see her. I’m her fiancée!” Laura blurted out before she even had time to think over the possible consequences of such a blatant lie. A look of confusion passed over his stoic features, and for a second she was afraid that he still wouldn’t allow her in. Some people still didn’t believe in the legitimacy of gay marriage so he could have easily dismissed her._

_She subtly put her hands behind her back and moved her simple silver band from her right ring finger to her left. She brought them back around to the front and started to wring the hem of her shirt in an effort to quell her nervous energy._

_The man in scrubs glanced down at her hand and softened his gaze at the fidgeting woman in front of him._

_“Okay fine. She just got out of surgery about an hour ago and so far her vitals seem to be stable. Please follow me,” he turned on his heels and started walking back towards the two white doors that separated the waiting room from the OR patient area._

_“She’s a very lucky woman. The bullet had passed through her left shoulder about an inch above her heart and just missed her subclavian artery by less.”_

_Laura sucked in a breath as she processed how much worse things could have been if the bullet had been any lower._

_“It was a clean through and through, but we had to go in to excavate any debris. The bullet had torn through some trapezius muscle and tissue so we needed to repair the tear with a few internal stitches that should dissolve in the next few weeks. Her shoulder will be weak because the muscle tends to atrophy without use for extended periods of time, so she will need to stay on track with consistent physical therapy sessions and stretching. I’ll have the nurses talk to you about some location options.”_

_Laura made a mental note to make sure that Carmilla kept up with her exercises. Hell, she would even do them with her if she had to._

_“As for her head, she sustained a mild concussion with some bruising under her eyes, but don’t panic because that’s fairly common with these types of trauma cases. We weren’t able to see any cranial hemorrhaging in her MRI, but we’ll keep an eye out for any changes. If all goes well, Ms. Karnstein should have a full recovery.”_

_Laura felt a huge weight lift off of her shoulders as they both stopped in front of room number 327. Laura wanted nothing more than to bust down the door and see Carmilla, but she was afraid of what she might find on the other side. The doctor sensed her hesitation and stepped in front to open the door for her._

_Laura slowly crept in and couldn’t help the tears that flooded out of her eyes at the sight before her. Carmilla lay on her back propped up to a slanted position so her head was higher that her injury. Tubes and wires attached all over the woman’s body that were hooked up to monitors and other machinery that beeped and hissed in succession. The only thing that could be heard in the room was the ventilator as it continuously pushed oxygen into Carmilla’s lungs, and the slow electronic heartbeat that provided the blonde with a sense of stability that her mental state had been lacking._

_“When will she wake up?” Laura whispered into the room as if she was talking to herself._

_The assistant lay a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder and answered in a tone similar to Laura’s. “We’ve done all we can. That part is going to be up to her.”_

**“No! Please don’t hurt her! Laura!!!!”**

Laura was ripped from her thoughts as screams emanated from her room, piercing through the stillness that had once inhabited her quiet apartment.

Without hesitation the blonde made a beeline towards her bedroom and was met with shrill screams that seemed to echo around in her skull as she stumbled into the dark room. She ran to the bedside and blindly reached for the switch on the small reading lamp the hovered above her mattress.

The small lamp illuminated her bed, which held a writhing raven haired woman that was supposed to be resting. She could see that Carmilla had managed to tangle up her legs in white sheets and was currently thrashing about as she tried to fight off an attacker that only existed in her mind.

Laura made quick work of the sheets, but this didn’t stop the injured woman from kicking her legs out towards her. One of Carmilla’s flailing legs caught her in the jaw, but she ignored the pain because she needed to make sure that the brunette didn’t further aggravate her injury. She could always ice her face later.

She successfully dodged several more strikes before she was able to straddle Carmilla’s waist, leaving her out of leg range. That still left one arm that wasn’t secured by a sling which she snatched out of the air and held close to her body.

Her weight was able to momentarily subdue the struggling woman beneath her, but she needed another approach.

“Carmilla! Babe, stop fighting me. Please wake up!” Laura spoke frantically as she tried to restrain any damaging movements. The sound of her voice must of broke through her veil of unconscious because all movement stopped.

“Carm, you’re okay. It’s just me, Laura Hollis, and you’re with me in my apartment.”

Laura could feel the girl’s rapid breathing slow as her eyes fluttered open to meet Laura’s concerned gaze. The blonde watched as a multitude of emotions flitted across Carmilla’s face, but what it ended on was pure defeat.

Laura’s heart twinged at the sight. She brought both of her hands to the woman’s face trying to mend what has been broken beneath the surface.

Carmilla’s eyes slowly closed at the feeling, and she breathed in the light scent of lilacs that clung to the girl that hovered above her.

“You’re okay. I promise I’m not going anywhere,” Laura whispered as she traced the brunette’s collarbones with the pads of her fingers. She could feel the woman relax into her touch as she traced her way up her neck and into raven hair.

Carmilla loved the feel of Laura’s hands, but she needed more contact so she wrapped her right arm around the girl’s waist and pulled her flush against her body. She could feel the steady beat of the blonde’s heart that mingled with her own until they seemingly became one.

“I’m here baby. I’ve got you,” Laura murmured into the brunette’s uninjured shoulder as she enclosed her arms and legs around the girl under her. She left a trail of light kisses up Carmilla’s throat and lingered the last one on the swell of her cheekbone where one tear decided to venture.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Laura asked as she reached for the taller woman’s arm so she could tangle their fingers together.

“No. Can I just hold you for a little longer?” Carmilla voice cracked as she looked into the honey brown eyes that were staring back at her. Tears threatened to spill as they both stared at each other with mutual understanding. No other words needed to be spoken.

Laura hushed her and lowered herself back into Carmilla’s embrace. She had made sure that she wasn’t resting on her injured arm, but she stayed as close to her as was possible.

They held onto each other until Laura could no longer feel the tremors that shook the tired body beneath her. She slowly pushed herself onto her elbows so that she could look down into Carmilla’s eyes.

“What do you say we get you that shower now huh? Then we can go eat and relax for awhile,” Laura murmured in the small space between them.

“Okay.”

Laura stood up and carefully pulled the brunette into her arms and walked them over to the kitchen. She didn’t miss the way Carmilla clung to her side or how she kept their fingers laced together.

Once Carmilla’s eyes adjusted to the light, she was able to look at Laura clearly. She could see what looked like a newly formed bruise blossoming on the left side of her jaw. Her hand instinctually went to run her fingers over it, but she stilled when she saw the blonde unintentionally flinch.

“Where did you get this?”

Laura’s hand went to rub the back of her neck to buy her a little time because she knew Carmilla wasn’t going to take this well. Without coming up with a better lie she figured that the truth was always the best option.

“You accidentally kicked me when I went to go wake you up. It was my fault really. I wasn’t being careful and ended up getting hit.” After she finished mumbling out what happened, she realized that was the wrong thing to say because Carmilla started backing away from her with a pained expression.

“No, no babe stop. It wasn’t your fault.” She took the brunette’s hand between hers to close some of the distance.

“Laura I’m so sorry. I would never want to hurt you.” Tears sprung from her eyes as she bent her head to lay kisses all over Laura’s hands.

“Carm of course I know that! It was a freak accident that you had no control over. I promise I’m not mad,” Laura stated honestly as she searched Carmilla’s eyes for understanding.

“I still feel really bad. It looks like it hurts. You should probably put some ice on it before it starts to swell.”

Laura let out a breath of relief as she detached herself and made her way to the freezer. She took out an ice pack and covered it with a paper towel before walking back over to the couch where Carmilla had decided to sulk. She plopped down next to the brunette and held out the ice pack to her.

“Can you help me?” Laura asked with a spark in her eyes.

Carmilla was more than willing as she warmly smiled at the blonde and gently placed the ice pack on her sore jaw. Carmilla would never admit it out loud, but Laura letting her help meant more than she could ever understand. They sat like that for awhile until Laura started to fidget.

“Okay I think my face is thoroughly frozen now so I’m going to go get something to wrap your shoulder with.”

Laura went to sit up, but was pulled back down into her seat. She looked at the brunette with a questioning stare, but Carmilla just leaned over and left a warm kiss on Laura’s jaw where the ice pack had been.

“All better now,” Carmilla said as she let go of the hold she had on Laura.

Laura giggled at the woman on the couch as she searched the apartment for a trash bag and some duct tape. After finding what she needed she made her way back over to the couch and wordlessly got to work.

After a few tries, Laura was able to wrap the bag around the sling and tape it so that everything was secure and covered. Carmilla was still wearing her tank top, but she didn’t think she would have a problem getting it off.

“Okay it looks like you’re ready!” Laura’s smile came back in full force as she looked at her handy work with pride. One last patch of duct tape by the shoulder and the blonde was confident that the arm was secure. “Dr. Callis said that the wound can’t get wet for a few more days so this should hold up in the shower.”

Carmilla couldn’t help but laugh at the adorable human being in front of her. The look of pure concentration on the cupcake’s little scrunched up face was enough to even melt the Grinch’s heart.

She looked down at her wrap silently admiring the girl’s work and said, “I didn’t know you were so good with your hands Ms. Hollis.” Carmilla smirked at Laura as the girl gaped back at her with an expression that resembled a floundering fish.

Her mouth opened and closed several more times before she was able to recompose her face into something less revealing. To try and gain the upper hand back, the blonde turned with a swing of her hips as spoke over her shoulder, “You haven’t seen nothing yet Ms. Karnstein.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Carmilla breathed out as she could hear the girl’s footsteps getting fainter as she made her way down the hall towards the master bathroom that was connected to the bedroom. It wasn’t until she heard the faucet being turned on that she shuffled her way over to the doorway.

Laura stood facing away from her as she set the shower to a more comfortable temperature for her guest. After she felt it to be comfortable she pulled the lever that switched on the overhead shower head panel which resembled rain falling down from the ceiling. Carmilla looked at the shower with awe and couldn’t help but notice that it had more than enough room for two. (Not that this was pertinent at the time, but you know, future reference.)

The blonde closed the frosted glass shower door and looked back at Carmilla expectantly. Carmilla began to undress herself, so Laura decided it was time to walk out when she heard, “Hey Laura! I’m a little stuck so do you think you can, uhm, maybe help me a little?”

She turned around to see the brunette’s good arm half stuck in the tank she was wearing with no way to get the shirt off. Laura could see the look of shame painted across the girl’s face so she decided to take matters it her own hands.

Carmilla hung her head in embarrassment as she waited for Laura to help her. The woman had already done so much for her so the least she felt she could do was fucking undress herself. She could deal with a lot of things, but pity was not one of them.

She felt a hand slip under her chin and her face was lifted to be met with a smug grin.

“I would love to undress you,” Laura replied lowly as she reached for the drawstrings of the brunette’s sweatpants.

Carmilla was completely thrown as she felt her pants loosen from her waist. She couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw a look of lust cross over the blonde woman’s face. Her heart raced as she waited for Laura to make her next move.

Laura wasn’t actually planning on taking anything further than simply undressing her, but all of the confidence that she was exuding only moments ago quickly faded as she felt the smooth skin of Carmilla’s hips that rest under her own borrowed pants. She held Carmilla’s waist and ran her thumbs back and forth over the brunette’s hip bones. Laura felt a twinge of pride as she felt the skin underneath her fingers quiver from her touch. She would make sure to catalog this as a sensitive spot for you know, future reference.

It was when Carmilla’s breath hitched that Laura was pulled from her trance. She hadn’t meant to get so carried away, but the feel of Carmilla’s skin had her absolutely mesmerized. If she didn’t find a way to control herself soon, she would be doing a lot more than just disrobing this stunning woman.

The shorter woman decided her best course of action was to go in blind, so she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the brunette’s pants and underwear down in one go.

Laura was clearly a professional so she did NOT slide her fingertips along smooth skin all the way down her legs, or notice that Carmilla’s panties of choice felt a lot like lace. See, totally professional.

Carmilla let out a gasp at the sudden movement, but was immediately distracted by the fact that the woman who was kneeled down before her had her eyes shut tight. By the pained look etched into the other girl’s face she could see how hard she was struggling not to look.

“You doing okay there cutie?” Without a response she decided to push the girl a little further. “I know we don’t know each other that well, but I thought I’d let you know I’m not hiding a gnome down there if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

Laura grumbled as she felt a familiar heat simmer all over her face and neck. There was also another source of heat a little lower south, but she desperately tried to ignore that for a little longer. The last thing she needed was Carmilla to think she was a giant creep for enjoying this.

She stayed bent down and helped the injured woman out of the pant legs and both of her socks. Laura slowly stood back up and kept what she thought a respectable distance between them without being able to see.

“Okay this part is going to be a little bit tricky, so you’re going to have to help me,” Laura stated as she blindly reached for the hem of the woman’s shirt.

“Oh, but you were doing so well by yourself,” Carmilla quipped which only got her a poke to the stomach. “Ow, okay fine! I’ll help.”

Laura smiled as she slowly started to take off the tank which was hooked onto her uninjured arm. Once she successfully got one arm out, it was easier to maneuver it around her make shift sling with the help of Carmilla.

Laura reached out for what she thought was the final piece of clothing, but was met with soft skin cupped into her hands. Instead of retracting them, her brain short circuited and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t seem to move away.

“Fuck,” Carmilla accidentally slipped out as Laura stood completely frozen with her hands covering the taller woman’s breasts. Carmilla didn’t dare move as the girl’s warm hands lay pressed against her. Let’s just say Laura wasn’t the only one enjoying this new development.

Laura could feel the girl harden under her touch and this was enough to make her jump back with a mortified expression. Her eyes shot open, but she made sure they stayed glued to Carmilla’s dark ones that were staring back at her with a bewildered expression.

The darkest blush Carmilla had ever seen erupted across the girls face as she stumbled out, “Oh wow. I’m so sorry. I didn’t… I don’t know… I'm going to leave now.” A whisk of blonde hair scurried past her as she sped towards the exit.

“Laura wait! It’s…” and with that, the door shut leaving a very naked Carmilla alone and extremely confused.

**“…fine.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahahaha... I regret nothing. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hide my gay ass in a closet now. Let me know what you guys thought! I love reading your comments<3


	6. Chapter 6

**“…fine.”**

Carmilla stood shell shocked as she stared at the door that Laura had practically thrown herself out of moments ago. Only her soft scent was left behind as the brunette tried to figure out what the fuck had just happened.

 

One minute a gorgeous girl was feeling her up, and the next she was left alone and naked in an empty bathroom. She was less than pleased with this sudden change of events.

 

Carmilla huffed as she felt the tension building in her body as she waited to see if the blonde would come back and explain what that was all about.

 

Although she felt frustrated, she couldn’t help the rising anxiety that flickered on in her mind as reality settled in. Laura had panicked after realizing where her hands had been firmly placed, but Carmilla didn’t know for what reason. She couldn’t help but worry if it was just her embarrassment that had caused her to flee, or if she didn’t want the brunette in “that way.”

 

The brunette shook her head in an effort to clear the negative thoughts when she caught a glimpse of herself in the large wall mirror that hung above the room’s double sink.

 

She leaned her hand on the edge of the black tiled counter as she took in her full appearance. Her pale skin looked soft and inviting in the pleasant lighting of the room. Her body was lean yet toned, giving her the appearance of good health without betraying her current pain and exhaustion. Her raven hair was an absolute mess of tangled curls that was sure to be an absolute bitch to get out, but had somehow still managed to look appealing in an unruly sort of way.

 

The brunette’s attention was brought down to her chest and she felt embarrassed at how alert her breasts still were. As if they were reaching out to find the warmth that had been encompassing them only mere moments ago. The woman really couldn’t blame her body for betraying what she knew her heart so dearly wanted. Her pull towards the ball of sunshine was just too great to ignore.

 

All she could think about was Laura touching her, kissing her, holding her. She wanted to love her and be loved by her.

 

 _Holy shit_. Carmilla violently shook her head at the thoughts that were currently consuming her mind. She had known the girl for what, a week, and now the only word that came to the forefront of her mind was love? She had heard of the lesbian u-hauling stereotype, but this was just ridiculous.

 

She turned on the cold faucet and splashed the icy water onto her face to hopefully shock some sense into herself. It stung her cheeks as it tracked its way down her emotionless features and dripped onto her naked body leaving goose bumps it their wake.

 

A shiver shook her to the core as she made her way over to her much needed shower to cleanse her thoughts. Steam spilled into the room as she slid open the glass door. Once she stepped fully inside, she closed the door and felt her tension release as the warm spray of water rained down on her body from above.

 

Carmilla made a note to ask Laura about this shower head because it was doing absolute wonders on her back muscles as the streams massaged into her sore tissue like tiny magical masseuse fingers. She let out an involuntary groan as the tension that had been building in her body dissipated with the water that disappeared down the drain.

 

She slapped a hand over her mouth at the realization of how that might have sounded to anyone that had been listening. Although the idea was tempting after recent events, she really didn’t trust herself not to moan out a certain someone’s name in the heat of the moment. Her sexual frustration will have to wait. She had to suppress a chuckle at the thought of how that would have played out.

 

What Carmilla didn’t realize was the girl that had been just plaguing her mind stood frozen outside of the shower stall.

 

Laura had just snuck in to leave Carmilla some essentials and was about to stealthily sneak out, but she forgot how to move after she heard the brunette let out a breathy moan. Laura’s brain screamed at her to leave, but her eyes flicked over to the beautiful form that stood just behind translucent glass. The image of the woman was pellucid, but clear enough to stop her dead in her tracks.

 

Seeing Carmilla naked behind the frosted glass was like seeing a painting without the details. Laura could make out the woman’s subtle curve of her back as she arched into the water, but not the small moles that dusted her pale expanse of skin. The brunette’s right hand was held up above her head, tangled in her tresses as she washed out the shampoo. Her breasts remained unfocused and blurry, but Laura was able to create a pretty accurate mental image based on her accidental groping. She always was a hands on learner.

 

Carmilla was pulled back from her sea of thoughts as the shower’s temperature ever so kindly let her know that she had overstayed her welcome. She turned off the cool water with a twist of her wrist, but was startled by the squeak of a door closing.

 

“Laura. Is that you?” Her ears perked up as she listened for any signs of movement. When she was met with silence, she stuck her head out of the shower, but was disappointed as she was still the only one in the room.

 

What she did notice, was the change of clothes and clean towel waiting for her outside of the stall. The blonde was even nice enough to leave her a new toothbrush with her name labeled on it with red sharpie.

 

A warm smile graced Carmilla’s lips as she noticed Laura had used her new nickname of ‘ _Carm’_ instead of her full name. Carmilla had never liked her name shortened, but something about it coming from the shorter woman’s mouth made feel different. Maybe even special.

 

She grabbed the fluffy black towel that was left for her on the hook next to the shower and carefully patted herself dry while being mindful of her injury. She spent an extra moment nuzzling her face into the piece of cloth to soak in the beautiful scent it held. Lilacs.

 

After ridding herself of her plastic sling and a surprising amount of duct tape, she began the grueling process of dressing herself.

 

Although this would have been a lot easier with a second set of hands, she didn’t want a repeat performance of earlier events. (Okay maybe she did, but her pride kept her from calling the girl in.) She also didn’t know where Laura stood in all of this and didn’t want to make the cupcake any more uncomfortable than she already had.

 

Without too much of a hassle, she managed to put on the loose black tank top that Laura had provided her. The girl seemed to be a quick learner because based on her previous findings, Laura didn’t even bother getting a sports bra for the brunette to wear.

 

Carmilla looked over at her remaining clothes that she had to put on and noticed something interesting that caught her attention. Under the flannel pants was a yellow pair of Calvin Klein boy shorts that were most definitely not hers.

 

Carmilla had to fight down a blush at the realization that she didn’t have any of her underwear here, so she would have to wear some of Laura’s. She slipped them on and couldn’t help but admire how comfy they were, or how they definitely didn’t help the sexual frustration that was bubbling in the pit of her stomach in the slightest.

 

When it came to the plaid flannel pants, Carmilla was relieved to find that they were much easier to get into than she had predicted.

 

Once she was fully dressed, she looked up into the mirror and was satisfied with her more hygienic appearance and the healthy flush to her face. She might have even said she looked sexy if it weren’t for the Velcro monstrosity restraining her arm. She huffed in annoyance and moved some of the raven curls that had been blown into her face back over her shoulder.

 

Carmilla needed to up her game to woo the blonde, so she vigorously brushed her teeth as she gave herself a mental pep talk in the mirror. One might have said she was intimidating if it weren’t for the minty green foam dripping down her chin. How she went from female Tarzan to possibly rabid dog, she will never know.

 

She was about to leave the room when a brown hair tie on the counter next to the sink caught her eye. Not wanting to create puddles all over the apartment with her still wet curls, she decided that she would put her hair up.

 

She realized that she went into this task way too overconfident when she tried and failed for the fifth time to get her hair up one handed.

 

“This is fucking impossible,” Carmilla groaned as she dropped her forehead onto the counter in exasperation with a soft thud.

 

Her head shot up as a soft knock on the door rang throughout the room.

 

“Carm. Can I come in?”

 

“Yes,” the brunette answered in a small voice as she waited for the girl to enter.

 

Laura slowly opened the door and peaked in to see Carmilla with her head down and a hair tie laying in her open palm that was stretched out towards her. Without a word, Laura walked over to the woman and took the hair tie that was offered to her out of the brunette’s hand.

 

“Turn around.” Laura gently placed her hands on the taller woman’s hips to spin her the other way.

 

Carmilla turned back towards the mirror and made eye contact with brown eyes that had held so much uncertainty the last time she looked into them. Now there was something else that gleamed behind amused eyes that sparked some hope deep inside her chest.

 

Laura stepped in close behind the brunette so her full front was tightly pressed against the other woman’s back. She wrapped her arms around Carmilla’s torso and held her tightly against her body just feeling the warmth grow between them. She breathed in Carmilla’s natural scent that was far more prominent now that she was clean.

 

Her scent reminded Laura of a snowy night in the dead of winter. Being cooped up inside as flakes fall towards the earth covering it in a thick blanket of white. When you’d sit by the fireplace and read a book by its warm glow with a hot chocolate in your hand. A blanket pulled around you tight with a loved one snuggled up on your lap, snoring lightly as they drift off into a peaceful sleep. That feeling of warmth and safety. Carmilla smelled like that feeling. She smelled like home.

 

Carmilla gazed at her through the mirror with a curious glint in her eyes. She didn’t know what to expect from the other woman, but this certainly wasn’t it. The other girl rest her face against her shoulder with her eyes slightly drifting closed. Not from exhaustion, but instead in a state of tranquility. She slowly slid her right hand onto the blonde’s arms to hold her in place for a little longer.

 

“I like you in my clothing,” Laura said into Carmilla’s shoulder, coming out muffled due to her mouth’s close proximity to the brunette’s injured shoulder. She lightly brushed her lips over the exposed skin before retracting her body from Carmilla’s.

 

“I have to say that these pajamas are comfy, but I think I like yours much better.” Carmilla could see the light blush that spread across Laura’s cheeks.

 

Laura often got hot during the night so she rarely wore warm clothes to bed, even in the winter. Partially for this reason, she was sporting a loose fitting Maple Leafs tee shirt that had been cut into a muscle shirt, and some under armor spandex shorts that clung to her muscular body. Her black sports bra and the sides of her abs could be seen from the holes Laura had cut on either side of the shirt. She usually wore something like this to bed, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want Carmilla to notice. She had always been confident in her body, so why not flaunt it.

 

With dark eyes watching her every move, Laura moved her arms up and started running her fingers though Carmilla’s curly locks that were still damp. Her lips tilted up when she heard the other woman sigh in contentment at the feeling of her fingers lightly scratching her scalp.

 

She kept this motion up until she had gathered all of Carmilla’s curls into a loose ponytail. The blonde hadn’t asked how the taller woman wanted her hair done, but she started twisting it until she could tuck everything into a messy bun.

 

Laura had always been jealous of those with curly hair because they were always able to pull off a perfect messy bun, and Carmilla was no exception. Once she felt pleased with her result she put her toned arms back at her sides and looked up to find the brunette still staring at her.

 

“All done,” Laura said quietly as she bit her lip and looked the brunette up and down.

 

“Thanks,” Carmilla replied as she turned back towards the other girl.

 

Carmilla didn’t realize how close the smaller girl was until they stood facing each other with their noses almost brushing.

 

From this distance Carmilla could see the woman’s individual lashes and a light splatter of freckles that dusted the bridge of her nose like constellations in the night sky.

 

Laura’s breath was intoxicating as it blew across her face like a warm current in the spring. Her eyes flickered to the smaller woman’s lips as her tongue darted out to wet her own. Without thinking, she leaned in to close the few inches of distance between them. All she could think of was capturing those pink lips that she swore were begging her to be kissed.

 

Laura lips slightly parted and her eyes fluttered closed as she could feel Carmilla’s breath on her cheeks as they inched closer to each other. Both girls were internally screaming with impatience, but just before their lips were about to meet…

 

 _“Baby you light up my world like nobody else. The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed. The way you smile at…”_ The women jumped apart at the sound of One Direction being blared into the small room, immediately ruining the moment that was cut far too short.

 

Laura sheepishly took out her phone that was tucked into the waistband of her spandex and turned off the alarm with the click of a button.

 

“Well it looks like it’s time for you to take your medication so I’m just gonna...” Laura slowly backed out of the room leaving a broody gay to sulk in an inferno of her own gay frustrations.

 

“Fuck me.”

 

After Carmilla had taken her pain and anti inflammatory medication, the girls settled down to eat their pizza and watch a movie on Netflix on the flat screen in the living area before bed.

 

Laura was scrolling through her suggested movies list, struggling to pick something that she thought they would both like. Coming up with nothing, she turned towards the brunette who was silently eating next to her on the large yellow couch.

 

“Is there anything in particular you want to watch?”

 

Carmilla looked over at the blonde with a shrug of her shoulders and continued to eat the slice of pizza that dangled out of her hand. She was still in a bad mood from getting cock blocked by One Direction. Fucking boy bands ruin everything.

 

After a little more searching Laura settled on 13 going on 30 because she wanted a classic and you can never go wrong with Jennifer Garner circa 2004. Or Jessica Alba for that matter. Let’s just say Laura had a thing for brunettes with brown eyes during her teens. (and quite possibly now)

 

Both of the women finished their food and settled back onto the couch on opposite sides as the movie started. Laura didn’t like the distance between them, but Carmilla was still acting strange from their little incident so she didn’t want to push anything.

 

Little did she know, distance was the last thing Carmilla wanted. Every few minutes the brunette would peek over at Laura and slowly inch her way over so that she wouldn’t notice her movements. Carmilla really craved contact, but she was entirely too embarrassed to admit this so her current plan of action seemed like the best option at the time.

 

After about 10 minutes of Carmilla’s not so subtle plan to move closer, Laura had had enough. She laid out on the vertical end of the L couch facing the TV and looked back over at the brunette who was suspiciously looking everywhere but directly at her.

 

“Seriously I can see you! Will you just come over here and get between my legs?”

 

Carmilla’s eyes shot toward the blonde in alarm and Laura couldn’t help the mental face palm that was being repeated in her head over and over at how wrong that sounded.

 

“No, not like that! I meant lie down between my legs. To… to be more comfortable. To watch the movie. Wait that didn’t come out right either,” Laura stuttered out as her face did its best impression of a tomato.

 

Carmilla snapped out of her initial shock once she verified that she had in fact heard the girl correctly. Although she was a little disappointed by how fast the girl had backtracked.

 

“Calm down cutie. I know what you meant,” Carmilla laughed as she sat between the other girl’s legs and rested her back against the blonde’s front. “Although I can’t say I would have minded the alternative.”

 

“Shut it and watch the movie!” Laura squeezed the smug girl’s side causing the brunette to squirm against the blonde. Laura sucked in a breath at the unexpected friction, but played it off as a cough while turning her attention back to the TV.

 

They both watched the movie for awhile longer until the blonde felt Carmilla’s head roll back against her chest. Laura looked down and saw her broody little artist sound asleep on top of her body. She knew the medication was going to make her drowsy, so it was only a matter of time before it knocked her out.

 

Laura looked adoringly at the woman in her arms and brought her left hand up to card her fingers into soft dark locks that Carmilla had let down in order to get comfy in her arms. She could feel the brunette nuzzle into her chest and she couldn’t think of a time where she every felt more happy than right in this moment.

 

Before long the rolling credits flickered across the screen, but the girl on top of her made no move to get up.

 

Laura didn’t want to let her go just yet so she took the remote and turned on channel 4 to catch up on today’s world news. She was paying more attention to the girl in her arms until one of the news headers caught her eye.

 

She upped the volume on the TV slightly so that she could hear the report, but not loud enough to wake up the brunette.

 

_“Police say that there has been another robbery in the downtown Toronto area. Officials have reported that two of the eleven hostages that had been taken have been shot during the stand off. One of the women, Sarah Jane, has been pronounced dead, and the other, Natalie Wood is still in critical condition with no further updates._

_We have been told that the suspect had managed to escape the police and is still in the area. The perpetrator is suspected to be 24-year-old William Luce. If anyone sees this man please report your sightings to the Toronto police force.”_

 

A picture of the man that has haunted Laura’s dreams for the past week appeared on the screen. A pale man with long dark hair looked back at her with a smirk. As if he was taunting her through the television. The name William Luce was written under his mug shot, and Laura couldn’t think of a person that she had ever held this much hatred towards.

 

Without realizing it, her grip on Carmilla tightened as she held her close to her body. She made a vow then and there that she would never let anyone hurt Carmilla like this coward of a man had. She trembled at the thought of the other women who had been shot, and she thanked whatever deity that was out there that Carmilla had made it out alive.

 

Laura felt nervous with how this criminal was evolving so fast. To go from simple armed robbery without casualties, to murder within the course of a month was extremely concerning. He was deteriorating fast, and his motives seemed to be less about the robberies and more to do with the hostages.

 

_“Police say that everyone in this area should be mindful of their surrounding and always be alert. International professionals are said to have been brought in to help with this case. We will continue to cover the story as more details are released.”_

 

Laura quickly shut the TV as panic rose in her throat at the thought of Will still being out there. Her body jumped as her ringtone chimed on the seat next to her.

 

The name ‘Daniel Hollis’ flashed across the screen and Laura looked down at Carmilla  to verify that she was still asleep. Carmilla was out cold, so she answered the call and whispered into the speaker.

 

“Hi Daddy.”

 

_“Laura Elizabeth Hollis you are in big trouble missy! Please tell me why I just received a new case on the robberies in Toronto and your name magically appeared all over it. It says that you were a hostage in the robbery at Laferry Bank last week and that you were involved in an altercation with the suspect. Is this a joke or does your father not deserve to know what is going on in your life anymore?”_

Laura could hear the hurt in his tone and suddenly felt extremely guilty that she hadn’t even thought to tell him about her involvement in the incident. She had been so busy being worried about Carmilla that she didn't think to tell anyone how she was doing.

 

Her father, Daniel Hollis, was a detective in the FBI in the international crimes sector. He often had huge cases in other countries that he had to travel for, but it hadn’t occurred to her that this would be one of them.

 

She ran her free hand through her hair as she contemplated how she wanted to respond to this.

 

“I’m so sorry Dad. A woman I had met that day had risked her life to save me, and got shot in the process. I’ve been with her ever since, and it completely slipped my mind to call you.”

 

 _“I read about her in the report,”_ She could hear him let out a breath as he tried to control his temper. _“I’m glad you’re safe, but you should have called me. Are you doing okay?”_

Laura felt a small victory in the fact that she wasn’t being reamed right now. She looked down at Carmilla and smiled wide.

 

“Yeah everything is great now. I’ve been taking care of Carm, and she seems to be doing a lot better. I had some bruising from the incident, but most of it has faded by now.”

 

Silence filled the other end of the phone and Laura couldn’t understand what she had said wrong.

 

_“Wait are you telling me that Carmilla Karnstein is with you right now? In your home?”_

“Uhhm yes,” Laura replied with confusion shown across her face.

 

 _“Well then that should make things easier. I’ll be there tomorrow to question you both about the robbery. I can’t wait to see you and meet this woman,”_ Mr. Hollis replied.

 

“Wait Dad. I don’t think…”

 

 _“See you tomorrow sweetie! Love you.”_ And with that, the line was cut and Laura sat there looking at the phone with her mouth hanging open.

 

She had not planned for this to happen, and she sure as hell wasn’t expecting Carmilla to meet her Dad so soon. Tomorrow should prove to be very interesting.

 

The blonde turned her focus back to the sleeping girl and gently nudged her shoulder.

 

“Carm, wake up. It’s time to get you into bed.”

 

“Nooooo,” the brunette grumbled out as she burrowed herself further into the cupcake.

 

Laura giggled as she struggled to get herself from under the brunette. She looked down at the girl and estimated that she couldn't weigh much more than her so she bent over the couch and placed her arms under the drowsy woman. Without too much protest, she gathered Carmilla into her arms and carried her bridal style into her bedroom. She had yoga to thank for her strength.

 

Laura gently placed the girl onto the bed and pulled the comforter up and over her body. She was about to make her way back to the couch when she felt a hand grab her wrist.

 

She looked back to see the brunette looking back at her with pleading eyes.

 

“Stay,” was all she whispered into the dark and Laura knew she couldn’t deny her this.

 

The blonde picked up the comforter from the opposite side of the bed and slid herself under it to lie next to Carmilla. Almost immediately, Carmilla shuffled her way over and placed her head on Laura’s bare shoulder.

 

After a few minutes of silence, Laura heard the injured woman’s breathing even out and she wrapped her arms back around her slumbering form. She could worry about tomorrow later, but for now she would just enjoy this moment.

**“Sweet dreams Carm.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, I found a plot! And yes I do hold a grudge against boy bands. Why do straight girls love them so? *insert multiple eggplant emojis* Let me know what you guys thought:)


	7. Chapter 7

Carmilla’s eyes shot open into darkness as she startled awake with a jolt. She lifted her head to frantically look around at her surrounding that were slightly illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the open curtains of the large windows on the far wall.

 

Her body relaxed once she recognized the soft outlines of the furniture around her that belonged to a blonde woman she adores. She confirmed her thoughts of her location as she breathed in the sweet smell of lilacs that hung in the room.

 

Carmilla settled back down into the soft bed and nuzzled her face into the warm pillow beneath her head until she felt the pillow squirm against her. She lifted her head to find out that what she was laying on was not a pillow, but instead a slumbering cupcake. Comfy all the same.

 

The night before came rushing back to her as she realized that after asking Laura to stay in her hazy state of pain meds, she did just that. How she managed to get from the couch to the bed was still a little fuzzy though.

 

She looked over at the glowing red numbers of the clock on the bedside dresser next to her head to see that it was only 3:30 in the morning. She wasn’t sure what had woken her up until she heard the girl beneath her mumbling something under her breath. A string of unintelligible whispers that held fragments of words jumbled together.

 

Carmilla smiled at the woman as she could see her eyebrows were pulled together and her mouth was in a set pout.

 

The brunette sat up a little so that she could get a better look at Laura and brought her right hand up to the girl’s face. She traced light patterns over her delicate features until her face relaxed back into a neutral expression. She hummed a tune quietly into the darkness until the blonde gave a final sigh and silence filled the room once more.

 

Carmilla stared at the beautiful girl next to her and wondered how she had gotten so lucky to even talk to someone like Laura, let alone be allowed to share a bed with her. She cupped her jaw in her hand and watched the smaller woman unconsciously lean into her touch as she lightly stroked her cheek with the pad of her thumb.

 

“Carm,” Laura whispered into the night and Carmilla’s hand stilled upon being caught. She was sure that Laura was awake, but her eyes remained closed and oblivious to the world around her as she pulled the brunette impossibly closer to her body with adorably grabby little hands.

 

“I’m right here cutie,” Carmilla said as she laid back down on the blonde’s shoulder with her head tucked under the girl’s chin. As soon as she got herself resettled, the brunette reached for Laura’s hand and automatically laced their fingers together. Carmilla’s heart skipped a beat as she felt a light squeeze from the other girl.

 

The brunette fell back asleep to the rhythmic thumping that drummed into her ear like the steady beat of what she knew was now her new favorite song. _Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub…_

 

Carmilla woke up several hours later feeling significantly colder than she had during the night. She stretched her hand out in search for her missing cozy human pillow, but disappointingly came up empty handed.

 

The brunette went to sit up on the bed and quickly realized how sore her shoulder was as she tried to move it slightly to get rid of the consistent ache that was caused by its immobility. She let out a sigh as she reached her right arm up towards the ceiling as the across her body in a stretch. Carmilla felt the need to do the same with her left, but didn’t feel like risking it.

 

Carmilla was conflicted about waking up alone, but that feeling left as quickly as it had come when she smelled something cooking outside the bedroom. Her stomach growled loudly in protest as she got out of bed and dragged her feet over to the kitchen.

 

The brunette silently watched as Laura buzzed around the kitchen making breakfast. She noticed that the girl was already dressed in her clothes for the day. By the sheer amount of food that the blonde had made, Camilla was wondering how long the girl had been awake.

 

Carmilla looked at the kitchen island and saw a large spread of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a nice variety of fresh fruit. The amount of food seemed excessive, but there was no way she could complain at anything Laura had done for her.

 

Laura was just finished setting down the last of the pancakes when Carmilla decided to make her presence known with a soft clearing of her thought.

 

Laura spun around impressively fast without falling at the arrival of her awaited guest and beamed at the sight in front of her. The brunette had a serious case of bed head and her eyes were glassed over with sleep as she stood watching her, but she still managed to look absolutely adorable.

 

She walked over to Carmilla and put her hands on the other woman’s hips as the brunette stayed quiet. “Morning sleepy head. I was just about to go and get you.”

 

“Morning,” Carmilla replied while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and giving Laura a shy smile. “What’s all this for?”

 

“You silly! I thought you’d be hungry so I decided to make you some breakfast.” The blonde watched the other woman as she looked back at the table she prepared. “Well that, and it’s also a sort of apology in advance.” Laura added as she looked up at the ceiling with sudden interest.

 

“I’m famished so thank you for doing all of this, but what do you have to apologize for?” Carmilla asked with sudden curiosity at the guilty look Laura was trying to hide from her.

 

“Well, uhm maybe for the fact that my Dad will be here in several hours and he wants to meet you, but really it’s nothing to worry about.”

 

The next couple of hours were spent with Laura frantically cleaning up the apartment while filling in the ‘need to knows’ about her father. Carmilla was terrified to find out the man worked for the FBI, and also happened to be ridiculously overprotective of his daughter. I mean weekly bear spray packages, come on!

 

No matter how much Laura assured her that everything would be fine, nothing could stop the rising anxiety she felt as it got closer to his arrival.

 

At exactly 4:00pm a loud knock sounded throughout the apartment. Carmilla froze in fear as Laura practically ran towards the door and pulled it open.

 

 “Daddy!” Laura threw herself at the large man standing in the doorway with a navy blue duffle bag in hand. As soon as Laura had launched herself into his arms, he dropped the bag in favor of wrapping Laura up in a giant bear hug.

 

Carmilla was watching the scene from a few steps back with her good arm folded against her stomach to keep the butterflies from escaping. There was little she could do to quell the anxiety building in her body at the arrival of this gargantuan man. She was never a ‘meet the parents’ type of girl, but she knew that she was willing to make an exception for the tiny woman in front of her.

 

The brunette smiled without her brain’s permission at the family reunion that was happening in front of her eyes. Her 5’2” cupcake was dangling about a foot off the ground in the arms of a man who looked to be at least 6’4”. She would have been nervous of the man crushing Laura, if it weren’t for the gentle way in which he held her.

 

“Look at you, young lady! I swear you’ve grown since the last time I saw you.”

 

Laura laughed at her father as he swung her around in his arms. “First of all, I’m pretty sure I stopped growing a long time ago. Second of all, it hasn’t even been that long. I just saw you two months ago at Gram’s birthday party!” He lowered her back to the ground, but kept her within an arms reach as they looked at each other with a mixture of affection and amusement.

 

Carmilla felt as if she were intruding on a private moment so she decided to stay quiet until the man took notice of her.

 

She took a closer look at him and noticed a few things that were all too familiar about his exterior. His smile was almost identical the the one she had come to know and love. Full and bright, with every ounce of sincerity that one could muster. His hair was a sandy blonde, but unlike Laura’s it had pieces of silver that glinted in the light as he moved. The handsome man was extremely tall, but proportionally so. His arms bulged with muscle that hid under his maroon crewneck sweatshirt that hinted at how physically demanding his job must be. Carmilla had expected him to have Laura’s familiar brown eyes, but was surprised to find that they were instead a solid shade of cobalt blue that gleamed with pride at the sight of his daughter.

 

The brunette was caught up in her thoughts until both sets of eyes were turned to her direction. She stayed perfectly still as she looked to Laura with a slightly panicked expression.

 

Laura sensed the unease as she made her way over to Carmilla and placed her arm around the woman’s lower back. She started to rub there in small circles as she turned back to her father who was looking down at the gesture with curious eyes.

 

“Dad, this is Carmilla Karnstein. I’m sure you’ve read a lot about her in your reports, but she’s the one who I owe my life to.” Laura’s introduction was meant for her father, but she kept eye contact with the beautiful woman tucked into her side as she spoke.

 

“Well Carmilla it’s a pleasure to meet you! I’m Daniel Hollis, Laura’s number one supporter who also happens to be her father.” He spoke with a smile directed at the brunette, and stretched out his strong hand towards her.

 

Carmilla reached out and gave the man a firm handshake as she said, “The pleasure is all mine sir.” After retracting her hand, she immediately stepped back into the warmth of Laura’s arms as she awaited what she was supposed to do next.

 

“I understand that this surprise visit is probably not ideal, but I have to ask you both some questions about the robbery that you were involved in last week. But before I do that, I want to thank you Carmilla for what you have done.” Daniel looked pointedly at Carmilla as he spoke. “I want to thank you for saving my Laura. From what I’ve heard, you had no obligation to risk your life for her, but you did so anyway. I’ve seen the bank video footage and I have to say that you did one the bravest things I have ever seen. You saw that my daughter was in trouble and you didn’t hesitate to put your life on the line for hers. And for that I will always be grateful to you.”

 

“I just did what anyone else would have done in my position Mr. Hollis. I was just lucky that I was able to save her. What I did may seem heroic, but I’m no hero,” Carmilla spoke quietly as she avoided eye contact with everyone in the room.

 

Instead of protesting the brunette’s statement, Laura leaned her forehead into the side of Carmilla’s face and left a lingering kiss on her cheek that expressed everything she was feeling in that moment.

 

Mr. Hollis watched the interaction with a soft gaze, but decided that he couldn’t let that go like his daughter had. “I’m going to have to disagree with you there Ms. Karnstein. I think what you did took bravery, courage, and a hell of a lot of heart. You put someone’s life before your own, and that my dear is why a hero is exactly what you are.” He finished with finality in his tone and watched a shy smile spread across the girl’s face as she continued to look at the floor.

 

He glanced over at his daughter whose full attention was still directed at the woman in her arms. He knew that look all too well and his heart warmed at the sight.

 

“Okay enough of that for now. Let’s get this out of the way so we can just relax and enjoy the rest of our evening,” Daniel said as he went to grab some documents out of his bag.

 

They spent the next two hours going over every detail of the robbery as Daniel took notes for his report on his government issued laptop. The questions ranged in complexity from the simple ones like “why were you at the bank that day?” to the grueling ones like “do you remember if he was wearing anything that seemed odd?”

 

After awhile the girls were getting fidgety as they approached their limit of questions for the day. It was getting close to dinner time as the sun was setting just outside the windows and their stomachs were making sure they were well aware of this. Seeing the women’s discomfort, Daniel closed his laptop to signal that that was enough for the day.

 

“Well that’s all the questions I need to ask you both for now. If anything else comes up during the case, I’ll be sure to let you know. This case has been an odd one and I just need to make sure I do everything by the books so I have a chance of catching this guy. I’m sorry for bringing up any bad memories.”

 

“Don’t worry. We get it Dad. I can promise you that we want him caught just as much as you do,” Laura said as Carmilla nodded at her in agreement. “And since I hadn’t been expecting you to be here today, I haven’t had enough time to shop for food to make us dinner. Do you think I can step out for a bit just to get some groceries down the street while you two stay here?” Laura asked as she stretched out her muscles from sitting on the couch for so long.

 

Carmilla’s face paled with the realization that Laura was going to leave her alone with her father. Her face stayed emotionless as she saw Daniel’s lips stretch into a grin.

 

“Oh sure honey! Make sure you be careful out there. Carmilla and I can bond until you get back. Isn’t that right Carmilla?” Mr. Hollis looked over at the woman with a smile that did nothing but cause her to internally panic more.

 

“Great!” Laura clapped her hands together as she finished up pulling her on winter coat and zipping it up. “I’ll be back in 15 minutes tops. Call me if you need anything and try to behave while I’m gone.” Laura bent over next to Carmilla’s ear and whispered, “Relax Carm. I’ll be right back.”

 

She kissed her head as she turned around with a wink at her father and a wave thrown over her shoulder at the two.

 

Carmilla watched her exit until the door shut and the lock clicked behind her. She turned back around to the man on the couch who she found was already watching her.

 

“So Carm is it?” Mr. Hollis smirked at the brunette as he knowingly used the name that was reserved for only his daughter.

 

Carmilla flinched at the nickname coming from the large man next to her. It really only ever sounded right coming out of Laura’s mouth. “Yes, sir.”

 

Daniel chucked at the formality of the injured woman’s response as he set his grape soda on a Harry Potter themed coaster on the coffee table in front of them. “Enough with the sir crap. My name’s Daniel, and anyone who risks their life to save my daughter is allowed to use it.” He could see that the woman was nervous so this was his attempt to get her to relax a little.

 

Carmilla looked back in surprise as Daniel’s once serious expression had turned to one of amusement. She felt her shoulders relax a little as the initial tension in the air dissipated. Dealing with ‘the parents’ was something completely new to her so she wasn’t sure what to expect. The brunette tucked her right hand under her thigh in order to hide her uncontrollable trembling.

 

“You and Laura have practically been attached at the hip since I got here, so we haven’t really had any time to talk with just the two of us. There are a few things I think we should discuss.”

 

Carmilla looked at the man with apprehension as he scrunched up his face as he tried to word what he was going to say next. Carmilla suppressed a chuckle now that she knew where Laura had gotten that trait from. On Laura she had always found it adorable, but on this mountain of a man it seemed almost comical. She recomposed her face as the man’s honest blue eyes looked back up to hers.

 

“Laura may seem like a very social person on the exterior, but she’s always been a little shy. Even as a kid she didn’t have many friends. It’s always taken her a long time to get used to someone new in her life, let alone trust them. I can’t help but feel like this is partially my fault since I always made her question the people around her, analyze their motives. I guess I can be a little overprotective at times.”

 

Carmilla accidentally let out a snort at the biggest understatement of the century. She immediately went silent again as Laura’s father turned towards her.

 

“Is there something you’d like to add?” He raised a bushy eyebrow at the interruption, but continued after Carmilla violently shook her head no.

 

“What I’m trying to say is, I find it interesting how fast she seems to have taken a liking to you. I know these are unique circumstances, but something sees different here.”

 

Carmilla looked down as she felt her hopes sinking in her stomach at the man’s questioning tone. She had disillusioned herself into thinking that she could be good enough for Laura, but her father must have thought otherwise.

 

Mr. Hollis sensed the somber change in the mood because he quickly laid a large comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder and waited for her to look up at him. He had meant this as a mere observation, but he could see how the other woman could have taken it wrong.

 

After a few moments of silence, Carmilla let her gaze travel up to his, but felt embarrassed at the fact that her eyes were welling up with unshed tears. As she waited for the man to continue, she felt her heart break little by little at the possibility that Daniel could take everything away from her.

 

Daniel stared at the girl with warm eyes as he tried to put as much feeling as he could behind his next words. “Normally I would be terrified at how fast she’s let you into her heart, but something I’ve seen in you has made me change my mind.”

 

Daniel wiped a tear that rolled down Carmilla’s cheek with the back of his knuckles as she stared back at him with confusion and even a small flicker of hope behind her eyes. If he wasn’t 100% sure before, he was now. He could see the fear of losing Laura shining in the woman’s dark observant eyes.

 

As the saying goes, the eyes are the windows to the soul. What surprised him the most is when he looked into this brave woman’s eyes, he saw Laura.

 

“I’ve seen the way you look at her when you think no one is watching. I’ll let you know that I work for the FBI, so I’m always watching,” he said with his index finger pointed at Carmilla’s nose in a gesture that was meant to be intimidating, but could instead be seen as affectionate.

 

She had seen many times before, that same accusatory finger pointed at her by a certain cupcake. The brunette’s face turned a light shade of pink as she tried to look anywhere but at the man in front of her.

 

Daniel let out a loud and boisterous laugh at the brunette’s avoidant behavior. “Oh don’t you pretend to not know what I’m taking about! She trusts you because you care deeply for her, as she does for you.” Carmilla felt warmth spread through her body as she heard these words. Daniel saw the change in demeanor, but decided to test the girl’s commitment to his daughter anyway. “This is just what I’ve noticed, but please correct me if I’m wrong.”

 

Carmilla looked back in alarm at these preposterous words.

 

“No of course not!” She felt her heart rate spike as her hand griped the couch cushion under her with white knuckles. “Laura is the best thing that has ever happened to me and I’ll be damned if I do anything to screw this up. I know you have no reason to believe me, but I promise to do everything in my power to justify her trust in me. To prove every day that I’m worthy of her because I lo…” Carmilla stuttered for a moment. “…like her. I like her a lot.”

 

“Well then that’s great news,” he replied as he stared at the brunette knowingly. Her little slip up definitely hadn’t gone unnoticed. “And to me you’ve proven yourself already by literally taking a bullet for my daughter. I know I’ve said this already, but thank you for saving my little girl. I don’t know what I would do if I lost her too. And Carmilla, for what it’s worth, you’ve earned my trust.”

 

“Mr. Hollis I… I mean Daniel. It’s worth more than you know,” Carmilla spoke with conviction as they shared a glassy eyed gaze. She hadn’t missed the fact that he said ‘lost her too’, but she didn’t feel this to be an appropriate time to ask what he meant by that.

 

Daniel felt a sense of relief wash over him as the words of Carmilla’s confession settled in. He had been professionally trained to read people, and just by looking at the woman in front of him, he had everything he needed to know. With that out of the way, he had one more thing he needed to clarify.

 

“One more thing Carmilla. I know there’s something special between you and my daughter, but I want to make something clear to you. I think I can take a guess at how you feel about my daughter, but I never like to assume anything.” He wrung his hands together on his lap as he thought about how uncomfortable things were about to get.

 

Carmilla looked back at him with a completely bewildered expression. _Is this going where I think it’s going?_

“I’m not sure if you realized this, but Laura is gay,” Daniel said with a cautious lilt to his voice.

 

The sincerity in his voice was what did Carmilla in. Hysterics washed over her as her body keeled over in a fit of laughter. The kind of laughter that simmered in your stomach until it bubbled out onto the surface uncontrollably. Tears filled her eyes as she leaned over the arm rest of the couch and tried to catch her breath. If only he knew where his daughter’s hands had been, not even 24 hours ago. She would have had to be a complete moron to think that Laura was anything but gay.

 

Mr. Hollis just watched her sudden outburst in utter confusion, as he was not quite sure how she was taking this bit of information.

 

Carmilla was still out of breath, but she straightened herself into a seated position and looked into Daniel’s eyes. “You don’t have to worry about that Mr. Hollis. And I’ll let you in on a little secret too.” Carmilla leaned in close as Laura’s father did the same. “So am I.”

 

A wide smile broke out on Daniels face as he leaned the rest of the way and enclosed Carmilla into his arms, catching her off guard.

 

The brunette stiffened if only for a moment, but quickly relaxed into the embrace as she heard his strong heartbeat drumming a steady rhythm against her ear. It was in this moment that Carmilla finally understood the comfort of family. The feeling of safety that literally surrounded you, protecting you from the world. This is what she had always craved for as a child. This is what she had always been missing.

 

The man slowly released Carmilla, but kept his hands resting on her shoulders as he beamed at her. He had been pretty sure of Carmilla’s sexuality, but he needed to be positive for his daughter’s sake. It didn’t take a genius to see that Laura was head over heels for the brunette, so he had to be sure the feeling was mutual. This bit of information changed everything. It meant that Laura had a shot.

 

“Now that we’ve got that settled, I think it’s time we had the talk. When Laura was young I was saving it for any horny teenage boys that came along, but I have no trouble giving it to you instead.”

 

“Oh I really don’t think that’s necessary.”

 

“You don’t think what is necessary,” Laura chimed from the doorway as she picked the perfect moment to make her appearance. She stumbled into the apartment with grocery bags lining her arms.

 

Carmilla breathed out a sigh of relief as Daniel leaned over to whisper to her, “Saved by the bell. We’ll continue this chat later.” He walked over to help Laura with the bags, but not before giving Carmilla a wink and patting her on the head.

 

Carmilla’s head fell back against the couch because she knew this conversation was far from being over, but she couldn’t help the smile spread across her face.

**She had a shot.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in less than a week... Who am I? Your comments are what push me to keep writing so I'm always delighted to hear from you guys:) And as the the great philosopher T-Pain once said, "Talk to me, I talk back."


	8. Chapter 8

Carmilla didn’t want to jinx it, but things started to go really smoothly after her and Daniel’s little chat. The initial awkward atmosphere dissipated, but that didn’t mean that Daniel didn’t take every chance he had to embarrass the girls. Now that he was aware of both of their mutual feelings for each other, he just needed to push them in the right direction. That being said, let the games begin.

 

Both Laura and her father had worked together to make some penne alla vodka after shooing Carmilla away from the kitchen when she had offered to help. They kindly refused and told her to go in the living room and relax, but after about 10 minutes of passive aggressive sighing they let her give a hand and stir the pasta in the boiling water so she didn’t feel so useless.

 

Daniel had to contain his laughter at Carmilla’s obvious display of her pride. He had once had a similar injury to hers during the early years of his career on the force, so he knew how weak one could feel in the aftermath. Sometimes the feeling of weakness in the moment can overshadow the strength it took to get there. Little victories are what you use to build that confidence up again. Hence why Carmilla was now power stirring the pasta with a satisfied smile on her face.

 

Thirty minutes later the trio all sat around the coffee table in the living room and chatted about various topics in an effort to get to know each other a little better.

 

Daniel seemed really interested in Carmilla’s art, and how she was able to make a decent living by selling her paintings. She downplayed how acclaimed her name had become in the art world in recent years, but this only peaked Mr. Hollis’s interest. The brunette readily agreed to give them both a tour of her studio sometime soon before he had to head back to the states.

 

Everyone was in the midst of a critical discussion on whether the Harry Potter books or movies were better when Laura looked over at the brunette who was adjusting her sling, and practically jumped off of the couch.

 

“Oh shoot Carm! I totally forgot to give you your medication before we started eating. Are you in any pain?” The blonde intensely looked over the brunette’s face, as if she would be able to see any discomfort the other girl might be in.

 

Daniel stopped mid chew with his cheeks bulged out, and just stared at the couple as Laura and Carmilla looked at each other in a way that seemed way too intimate for dinner time. The man broke their trance by pretending to choke with a few hearty coughs causing his pre-chewed food to splatter onto his plate.

 

The girls glanced over at the man with concern and mild disgust, but quickly turned their attention back to each other once they were satisfied that he wasn’t dying.

 

“No, I’m fine. My shoulder only feels a little sore. To be honest, I didn’t even notice until you mentioned it. Plus, it’s not you fault. I should be able to remember to take my own pills.” Carmilla laughed at Laura when the other girl started to pout.

Laura brushed some hair out of Carmilla’s face and tucked a few curls behind the woman’s ear before she stood up and headed back to the kitchen to get the brunette’s medication on the counter.

 

“Do you think there’s a magnet on the back of Laura’s jeans?” Daniel asked once Laura was out of ear shot.

 

“I don’t know why she would.” She turned back to Mr. Hollis with an incredulous expression at the man’s odd question. “Why do you ask?”

 

“I was just wondering because your eyes seem to really be attracted to it.” The large man started to eat his food again with a smug look on his face. He knew his comment was absolutely worth it when he saw how surprised Carmilla looked at his unsuspected jab. She hadn’t even realized she had been staring.

 

Laura came back over to see her Dad eating his penne with newfound enthusiasm while Carmilla had red blotches emerging all over her face and neck. He eyes were open wide as she sat frozen on the couch with her mouth clamped shut in a hard line.

 

“Carm are you okay? You look a little flushed. Do you want me to go get you a cold cloth to put on your face?” Laura asked with concern laced in her voice as she put the back of her hand up to the woman’s glistening forehead.

 

“I think it would be best if you remain seated Laura. I can guarantee she’ll recover faster,” Daniel replied with a giant shit eating grin.

 

The blonde sent a questioning look at her dad, not fully understanding what she had missed. She sat down close to Carmilla with their thighs touching so she could keep an eye on her while they finished up their meals.

 

It was then that Daniel couldn’t contain himself any longer as he convulsed in a fit of laughter. He had sat himself in one of the armchairs earlier so that the girls could have enough room on the couch. Little did he know space was not an issue when they were practically sitting on top of each other. They had a good 3 feet of space on either side of them, so their proximity to each other was just completely unnecessary and absolutely hilarious.

 

Carmilla started to sink into the cushions as she waited for Daniel to give the fatal blow. Laura looked more confused as ever as she she waited for someone to tell her what the hell was going on.

 

“Looks like you got a magnet too Carmilla.”

 

_Yup. There it is._

* * *

 

After a couple more hours of interesting conversations and an unbearable amount of embarrassment, both of the woman were starting to yawn in exhaustion. Their initial stress was now finally catching up to them as their eyelids drooped down.

 

Laura was absolutely amazed at the fact that the brunette hadn’t passed out yet. She was fighting off exhaustion herself, but the sudden weight on her arm caught her attention.

 

Carmilla was doing everything she could to stay awake, but she could feel her eyelids getting heavy and her ability to keep up with the conversation was waning. Her head kept bobbing uncontrollable so she slowly leaned her head down until it made contact with the blonde’s solid shoulder. From this position she knew she was a goner. She was just about to close her eyes for good when Daniel stood up.

 

“Alright I think it’s time to call it a night. I don’t want to leave too late to make it back to the hotel.” Daniel was comfortable going out at any time of night, but he didn’t want to have to carry both girls to bed with the way they were starting to doze off.

 

“Wait what? Dad don’t be ridiculous! You can just stay here and sleep on the couch,” the blonde said as if it was an obvious solution to his problem.

 

“But then where would you sleep?” Confusion contorted Mr. Hollis’s face as he looked at his daughter with narrowed eyes. He had assumed that Carmilla was already taking her bed, so she clearly was sleeping on the couch. _Right?_

 

Laura went silent as her father’s question sunk in. She blushed once she realized that he probably assumed she wasn’t sleeping in her bed with Carmilla like she had the previous night. Laura felt the brunette stiffen beside her as she tried to figure out how she was going to get herself out of this one.

 

“Oh duh,” she tapped her palm on her forehead, acting as if she had just forgotten that important detail. “Completely slipped my mind! I can sleep on the floor in my room if you want to take the couch for tonight,” Laura explained as her hands flailed around her head. Both girls knew damn well that she wasn’t going to sleep on the floor, but what’s a little white lie to ease her father’s discomfort.

 

Daniel looked between the two at their guilty expressions, but decided he was too tired to push it. Carmilla and him had yet to have their “talk”, but he trusted her judgment until proven otherwise.

 

“No need sweetheart. My job already provided a room at the Grand Hotel, so I might as well use it. I’ll come back tomorrow and maybe we could do that studio tour if your up for it Carmilla?”

 

“That sounds great Mr. Hollis,” Carmilla quickly replied, grateful for the subject change.

 

“Okay great! I’ll call you in the morning to set something up,” he said with genuine excitement. “Now come over here my beautiful daughter so I can get a hug before I go.”

 

Laura smiled at her father and wrapped her arms around his middle as he squeezed her tight before letting go.

 

“Oh and before I forget, make sure you change the dressing on Carmilla’s shoulder before bed so it doesn’t get infected. And Carmilla start those stretches and exercises tomorrow that I showed you so you can get a head start on your physical therapy,” Daniel directed at both of them as he kept a hand on the door.

 

“Will do, Dad.”

 

“Thanks again Mr. Hollis,” Carmilla said as her heart swelled a little at his concern for her. She was about to head to the bedroom when Daniel added.

 

“Laura, do you think you could give Carmilla and I a minute?”

 

The blonde looked hesitantly at the two, but all had gone well during the evening so she wasn’t too concerned about giving them some privacy. She gave him a final wave and skimmed her hand along the brunette’s back as she made her way over to her bedroom. She closed the door behind her once she got into her room, leaving the other two alone to talk.

 

“I just wanted a moment to tell you something that I used to tell Laura when she was growing up because I think you need to hear it,” Daniel turned serious once more as he stared into Carmilla’s worried eyes. “Sometimes you have to take the leap and grow your wings on the way down. You may fear the fall, but if you never jump, you’ll never know what it feels like to fly. Take the leap Carmilla.” He winked at the brunette as he pulled the door open and stepped out to leave.

 

“Oh and Carmilla. Give Laura a kiss for me.” And with that the door clicked shut leaving the stunned woman to stare at the closed door feeling more conflicted than she had before.

 

She paced back and forth by the doorway until she heard a creak from the other side of the room, signaling that Laura had run out of patience. The brunette stayed facing the door as the footsteps got closer until she could feel the presence of the girl behind her. Hands pressed warmly against Carmilla’s shoulder blades, but stayed unmoving as they stood in silence.

 

“So did he say anything important?” Laura moved her hands up and down the woman’s back in hopes to get her to relax a little. She could feel the muscles beneath her hands soften as Carmilla leaned back into her touch.

 

“Yeah cutie. I think he did.” Carmilla turned around to look into Laura’s curious eyes. “He also said that I should really change the dressing on my shoulder. Do you think you could help me with that?”

 

“Of course I can babe,” Laura said as she took the brunette’s hand in hers and led her into the bathroom. She buzzed around the room to find everything she needed to redress the wound. The hospital had provided her with a few sterile gauze pads and some non-abrasive medical tape. She also thought to grab some bacitracin to hopefully help with the healing.

 

After putting the supplies on the sink counter she turned back to Carmilla who was patiently sitting on the toilet seat swinging her legs back and forth. Laura smirked at how adorable this broody woman could be. She stepped in between the brunette’s legs once she had everything ready.

 

“Okay so first we’re going to have to take off your sling so we can get to the bandages.” Laura slowly ripped the Velcro from the tabs and moved the strap from around the brunette’s neck until the whole contraption loosened and slid off.

 

Carmilla sucked in a breath at the pain that shot up her arm, lighting up every nerve ending from her shoulder down to her fingertips. Her arm had been stuck in the same position for so long that the joints had become unbearably stiff causing her severe discomfort when they were finally free to move.

 

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you?” Laura’s hands hovered above the woman, not making contact in fear of further injuring her.

 

“No, no cupcake. I’m just a little sore is all. I just need to stretch it out a bit and it should be fine.”

 

The injured woman grit her teeth as she attempted to straighten the arm. She could only manage about 45 degrees before her muscles called it quits. She lowered her arm down to her side and looked back up at the blonde with watery eyes. “Okay I’m good now.”

 

Laura nodded her head in understanding and carefully placed her hands on the edge of the bandage. She took her time peeling off the adhesive tape little by little, careful to watch all of the brunette’s responses to each movement. Without too much resistance she was able to pull off the remaining tape with a gentle tug. She removed the last piece of blood soaked cotton that had stuck to the surface of the wounds.

 

Carmilla watched the girl as she looked over her injured shoulder on the front and back. From what she could see in the vanity mirror, they just looked like thin lines that were stitched up tight with blue nylon thread. There was only minimal bruising that surrounded the entry and exit sites. If all goes well she shouldn’t even scar too bad. She looked back to the blonde who was frozen in place staring at her shoulder with an unreadable expression.

 

“Laura?” She started to worry when she received no response.

 

Laura hadn’t really thought of what she would find when she took off the bandages, but she hadn’t expected the immediate guilt and emotional pain that coursed through her own body. Seeing the damage only made everything seem all the more real. See could see everything that Carmilla sacrificed.

 

The tainted gauze in her hand was stained with the blood that Carmilla spilled for her. The stitches held together skin that had been torn by the cold touch of evil itself. A wound that will heal, but will never be the same. A scar that will forever remember the damage that has been done. The damage that was her fault.

 

Laura’s breathing had picked up significantly as she started to hyperventilate, taking short staccato inhales with uneven exhales. Panic filled her eyes and a fog crept into the edges of her mind as her vision started to tunnel to black. Carmilla’s screams rung in her memories as they mixed with her own shrill pleas of desperation.

 

Carmilla immediately jumped into action as a familiar look crossed the unresponsive blonde’s face. She ignored the pain in her shoulder, in favor of grabbing Laura into her arms and lowering her to the floor before she even had a chance to collapse.

 

She held the smaller woman’s body in her lap as Laura started to chant, “Please don’t leave me” over and over. A mantra that had become all too familiar and all the more unsettling.

 

 The brunette quietly shushed her while rocking their bodies gently from side to side. When she was younger and had panic attacks, she would rock herself until her head would clear of the darkness that gripped her mind.

 

The brunette stared at Laura’s pained face and began to softly sing the first song that had entered her head. It was an acoustic Ed Sheeran ballad that had been running through the back of her mind since the first time she ever laid eyes on Laura Hollis.

 

_Tell me that you turned down the man_

_Who asked for your hand_

_Cause you’re waiting for me_

Laura stirred slightly in the brunette’s arms as the song cut through some of the fog that blurred her conscience. Seeing the response, Carmilla started to sing slightly louder as she bent over to sing into the blonde’s ear.

_And I know, you're gonna be away a while_

_But I've got no plans at all to leave_

_And would you take away my hopes and dreams and just stay with me?_

The girl in Carmilla’s arms slowly opened her bleary eyes and looked up at the brunette who had pulled her back from the dark trenches of her mind. Their eyes met, but Carmilla didn’t stop her soft song as she sang from her heart.

_All my senses come to life_

_While I'm stumbling home as drunk as I_

_Have ever been and I'll never leave again_

_'Cause you are the only one_

She finished the song with a sweet kiss dropped onto Laura’s forehead.

 

“You have a beautiful voice,” Laura whispered before tucking her head back into the brunette’s neck as they stayed sprawled on the bathroom floor tangled up in each other.

 

After a few minutes Carmilla heard the blonde sniffle and she looked down to meet Laura’s sad gaze. The blonde reached up and placed her hand over Carmilla’s heart and just kept it there as she felt the steady beat against her palm.

 

“Does it hurt?”

 

“Never when I’m with you.”

 

* * *

 

 

The women had just finished replacing the bandages when they both walked back into the bedroom to get changed for bed. Laura gave Carmilla a clean set of pajamas to change into and took hers to the other side of the bed. She turned her body around to change into her clothes, but stopped afer taking off her shirt when she didn’t hear the other girl moving. The blonde slowly turned around to find Carmilla gawking at her topless body.

 

With a giggle that pulled a smirk from the brunette, she motioned with her hand for her to turn around and do the same.

 

With only a few minutes of a struggle Carmilla was able to change herself into her clothes. She was about to get into bed when she found Laura staring at the door with a solemn look on her beautiful face.

 

“What’s wrong?” Carmilla asked with genuine concern. She didn’t say it loud in fear of causing the beautiful woman another panic attack.

 

“Your 48 hours are almost up, so I guess you’re free to go back to your apartment tomorrow.”

 

Reality came crashing down on Carmilla as she remembered that she had a separate life before Laura. She had a job and an apartment.

 

_Oh shit my apartment._

Carmilla sprinted from the room over to the kitchen counter where Laura had put her cell phone and wallet that she had left her apartment with all those days ago. She ignored Laura as she frantically turned on her phone and waited for it to boot up.

 

_Stupid fucking apple. Show me my messages!_

Her phone started to vibrate violently as messages and voicemails started filling the screen, and they were all from a ‘Theowhore’ Straka. (he deserves it)

 

“Carm what’s wrong?”

 

Carmilla held the phone to her ear as she hit the first voicemail.

 

“ _Hello Ms. Karnstein it looks like you’re late again on your rent. I’ll be coming up later today to check in. See you soon.”_

The next one was a few days later after a few annoyed text messages that he left for her, not knowing that she was unconscious in a hospital room. I guess that’s what you get when you don’t put an emergency contact number.

 

“ _Ms. Karnstein I am not amused. I’ve left you several messages that you have yet to respond to. If I don’t hear from you in the next 24 hours, I’ll have to take action._ ”

 

She skimmed through several more warning messages before hovering her finger on the last voicemail that was left just this morning. She glanced over at the blonde who was watching her as she hit the speaker button.

 

“ _I’m sorry Carmilla, but there is nothing more that I can do on my part. You have not returned any of my messages so I’m calling to tell you that you are no longer welcome to stay in my apartment. I have asked a company to move your belongings to a storage facility. I expect you to come her to pay your final month of rent and at that time I’ll give you the key to the storage locker. I hope to hear from you soon.”_

 

“Fuck.” Carmilla let her head drop to the counter with the realization that she was completely screwed.

 

“Seriously! Is that even legal?” Laura said as her face scrunched up in anger. Carmilla would have laughed if it weren’t for the dread that had settled itself in the pit of her stomach.

 

“I don’t know. All I know now is that I’m very much homeless. What am I supposed to do now?”

 

“Stay with me,” Laura said as if what she was saying wasn’t a huge deal. Carmilla only stared at her in shock so she rambled on. “I mean since you have no where to go you can stay with me. We can go get your stuff tomorrow and just deal with the rest later. This way I can take you to your physical therapy sessions, and you won’t have to deal with rent while you’re looking for a new apartment.”

 

She looked at the brunette who had still yet to say anything. “Oh my god you hate the idea. I totally should have known that 48 hours was already more than enough time to spend with me. I mean you already had to deal with meeting my dad and he already planned to do something with us tomorrow. I mean we don’t even know each other that well!”

 

Carmilla reached out to stop the girl, but that only seemed to make things worse.

 

“I’m so sorry Carmilla. I just wanted to help, but sometimes I can get a little ahead of myself,” Laura finished as she looked at the ground and sucked in the oxygen that her ramble had deprived her of.

 

“Okay.”

 

“Wait what?” Laura looked up and was met with adoration gleaming in the taller woman’s eyes.

 

“Yes Laura. I would be honored to move in with you while I look for another place.”

 

Laura beamed at the brunette and time seemed to slow as they held each other’s gaze. It was in this moment that Daniel’s advice made all the sense in the world.

_I’ll take the leap …_

Carmilla surged forward and captured Laura’s pink lips with her own with an urgency she had never felt before. Want tugging at her stomach as the butterflies threatened to break free.

 

She threaded her right hand in the soft blonde hair at the base of Laura’s neck to pull her impossibly closer to her desperate lips.

 

Laura immediately responded by wrapping her arms snugly around the brunette’s torso as she pulled her body flush against the woman.

 

Carmilla let out a sigh of approval at the feeling of their bodies moving together as their hands clutched each other tight. She had never felt so comfortable in someone’s arms before, and she could never imagine it feeling this way with anyone else.

 

Relief flooded through their bodies as they confirmed their feelings for each other. As their kisses turned slow and gentle, they swayed in each other’s arms, just enjoying the feel of each other’s lips and the touch of their skin.

 

After several small final pecks, Laura leaned back to just look at the girl in front of her. She gave Carmilla the most beautiful smile that left the brunette weak in the knees. Carmilla leaned her forehead against Laura’s and breathed in her favorite scent. Lilacs.

 

_…’cause you are the only one._

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not crying. You're crying! I listened to One by Ed Sheeran and I don't understand what this fluid that's leaking out of my eyes is! Send help.


	9. Chapter 9

Carmilla felt something heavy shift on her chest as sunlight streamed through the windows and bathed her face in warmth. She knew it was too early, but she couldn’t exactly bring herself to care as the soft mass lying on her continued to squirm against her body.

 

She could tell Laura was awake when she felt both sides of her pillow sink down with the weight of the blonde’s hands as she hovered over her. Carmilla didn’t want to get up yet so she kept her eyes shut tight and steadied her breathing to the best of her ability.

 

As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep the smile that spread across her face as Laura’s warm breath brushed across her cheeks. Her thoughts of last night stretched her smile impossible wider as she could almost feel the ghost of Laura’s lips on her own as it flickered through her memory.

 

After they had separated from their earth shattering kiss, Carmilla had stopped anything from going further because she considered herself a ‘gentlewoman.’ That and the fact that she’d rather not have an angry Daniel Hollis coming after her for doing anything untowardly to his daughter so soon after he had given his trust to her.

 

Carmilla gave the blonde a sweet goodnight kiss before she turned around and let Laura wrap her arms around her. They had snuggled into Laura bed and somehow managed to keep their grabby hands in respectable places during the night.

 

“I know you’re awake,” Laura half whispered at the adorable brunette pretending to sleep. She giggled at the woman’s antics, but she was now set on getting her to open her eyes. Carmilla continued to be stubborn as the persistent woman above her lowered her face closer until their noses’ lightly bumped into each other. Still no movement.

 

Somehow during the night, Laura had gone from being the big spoon with her arms wrapped around Carmilla, to being wedged between the brunette’s legs with her head resting on her chest. This new position was welcomed by both and made things all the more interesting.

 

“Oh, so that’s how you want to play it, huh?” 

 

Laura let her lips graze Carmilla’s cheek, but pouted when the brunette made no move to wake up. She then viscously peppered the woman’s face with hundreds of kisses, but made sure to avoid those tempting lips to further lure the brunette into opening her gorgeously dark eyes.

 

 Carmilla kept perfectly still during the cupcake’s assault and smirked when she heard the girl huff in exasperation at her failed attempts to wake her up. She could practically hear Laura pouting, but she couldn’t open her eyes and risk losing the game that they both silently agreed to.

 

Laura looked up at the ceiling in frustration, but she was more determined than ever to beat Carmilla at the game she created.

 

Some people might have quit at this point, but not Laura. Why, you ask? Well, it’s because this is Laura _fricking_ Hollis, and a Hollis does not quit. (Being a Hollis also comes with an unfortunate dose of borderline unhealthy competitiveness which is also exhibited here.)

 

The blonde turned back to the woman when she had a brilliant idea. If her gentle assault wasn’t enough to wake the sleeping grump, then maybe all she had to do was change up her tactics.

 

She watched Carmilla pull her bottom lip in between her teeth and bite down as she waited for the smaller woman’s next move. It took all of Laura’s restraint not to just give in and kiss the woman senseless right then. She was going to have to do something quick because her patience was disappearing faster than a box of chocolate chip cookies after hot yoga.

 

She scooched herself a little higher so that her face was even with Carmilla’s, but stopped when she heard a small noise come out of the brunette. A wicked smile crept across her features as she intensely watched the girl’s face. Her new tactical plan was going to be a brutal tickle fight, but this called for a change in plans.

 

“What was that babe? I didn’t quite catch that.” She slightly adjusted herself again and watched the brunette clench her jaw in an effort to keep in any indecent noises. It had been awhile since she’d ‘let out some stress’ so even the smallest of touches were driving her insane.

 

 Laura’s voice stayed steady, but she couldn’t help the heat that flooded through her body when she felt Carmilla’s thighs grip her hips tighter. She slowly pressed her hips down experimentally, and grinned as she saw the woman below her take take in a sharp breath.

 

Carmilla willed her body to stay still, but as Laura’s hips pushed down again, hers pushed up creating the friction that her body so desperately craved.

 

Laura shamelessly ground herself into the brunette, and all Carmilla could do was keep her eyes clamped shut as a wave of euphoria washed over her. The blonde could see that Carmilla was losing all restraint fast, so it was only a matter of time before she caved.

 

“Come on babe. Open your eyes.” Laura kept up the slow rhythm of her hips and attached her mouth to the base of Carmilla’s throat. She left a few open mouth kisses up her pale column, but hovered her lips over the girl’s pulse point.

 

She flicked her eyes up to see if she had won yet, but after seeing Carmilla’s closed eyelids she lowered her mouth back down to the sensitive patch of skin and sucked, hard.

 

Carmilla’s eyes popped open as a loud moan erupted from her throat and echoed around the room. A wave of pleasure traveled down her body as Laura continued to mark up her neck with her irresistible lips. Her legs had a mind of their own as they wrapped themselves around the back of the woman’s thighs to lock her in.

 

She grabbed Laura’s face and pulled it to her own as she graciously accepted defeat. Laura would have been more proud of her victory if it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t seem to think about anything else besides the heady rush caused by Carmilla’s mouth on hers.

 

Their game had deprived them of this closeness for far too long and now they were kissing each other like their lives depended on it. It was all still so new, but they couldn’t shake the feeling that it felt so right.

 

Carmilla’s brain fogged over with lust as she reached down with her right hand and grabbed Laura’s firm ass and pulled her harder against her. Laura groaned against the brunette’s lips and retaliated by biting her lower lip and dragging it out with her teeth.

 

Carmilla brought her hand up to the back of the blonde’s neck and pulled her in to give her a bruising kiss that left both of their lips tingling. Her tongue skimmed Laura’s lower lip as she silently asked for permission. She felt the girl’s lips part and she smiled into the kiss as their tongues touched for the first time.

 

Laura began to trail her hands up the front of Carmilla’s shirt when her cell phone rang from her bedside table. She begrudgingly separated herself and looked down at the woman’s beautiful kiss stained lips that stretched into a lazy smile.

 

“I win.” She gave Carmilla one last peck before she sat up to straddle the brunette’s waist and reached over to grab the device that had yet to stop ringing. Daniel Hollis lit up the screen as she took in a deep breath to calm herself. Of course it would be her Dad that would choose this moment to call.

 

“Hi Daddy! What’s up?” The blonde mentally high fived herself at how normal her voice sounded after doing what she had been just moments ago. Her mind automatically went to how close she was to touching Carmilla’s breasts, but she was yanked back by the sound of her father’s booming voice. He really was the human equivalent of a cold shower.

 

Carmilla looked up at Laura with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She bit her lip as she trailed her right hand up Laura’s thigh, leaving goose bumps in its wake. Just as she reached the edge of her incredibly tight spandex shorts, Laura quickly grabbed the exploring hand and laced their fingers together as she gave the brunette a playful glare.

 

Carmilla only took this as a challenge, so she sat herself into a seated position with Laura still securely on her lap. She bent forward and started to press kisses into the smaller woman’s exposed collar bones, making sure to give little nips the keep the blonde on her toes.

 

Laura tried desperately to ignore the brunette’s distractions, but she was losing all ability to keep up with the conversation with her father.

 

“Wh..What? No I’m fine. My brain’s still a little foggy from sleep.” She placed her hand on the middle of Carmilla’s chest and pushed until the brunette was completely flat on the mattress. Without the distraction of the woman’s lips on her body, she was able to concentrate enough to finish the conversation. “Okay, 12 sounds good. See you then. Love you too Dad.”

 

She hit the end button and threw the phone to the other side of the bed with a light toss. The smaller woman smirked down at the broody artist who still lay sprawled on the bed beneath her with small pout on her face.

 

“I didn’t think you’d give up so easily Ms. Karnstein.”

 

“I never give up Ms. Hollis.” Carmilla winked before she bucked the blonde off of her lap, effectively dropping her to the floor with a satisfying thud. “Oh and you can call me Daddy.”

 

Laura shot up off the ground with an accusatory finger pointed directly at Carmilla’s face.

 

 

“Naughty!” Laura yelled as she stormed out of the room while rubbing her now sore ass cheek that most definitely was going to develop a bruise. She could hear a cackling Carmilla still rolling around on her bed as she made her way to the kitchen to cook up some breakfast.

\---

 

The women arrived to Carmilla’s apartment building after Laura practically dragged Carmilla into the jeep. The brunette reluctantly went with a decent amount of persuasion, but she was dreading the uncomfortable encounter that was sure to come. She hadn’t always had the best relationship with her landlord, so she had a feeling he was going to make things difficult.

 

The brick building seemed to stare down at her with judgmental eyes as they stepped out in front of the entrance. She had always strutted into that building oozing confidence as she ignored the ass hat, but she couldn’t find it in herself. She felt so weak.

 

Laura looked at the girl beside her as she waited for Carmilla to step forward towards the building. She immediately knew something was wrong when she looked down and saw the white knuckle grip the brunette had on her paper check signed for a Theo Straka. She would have been worried that her grip would ruin it, if it weren’t for the fact that she had no intention of having Carmilla pay the man.

 

“Is something wrong?”

 

Carmilla shook her head no, but let her eyes drift down to the sidewalk as she shuffled her feet a little from side to side. The confident woman in Laura’s apartment was gone, and what was left was a scared shell of what she used to be.

 

Laura stepped in front and took the woman’s face into her hands and brought their lips together in a tender kiss. They melted into each other, not caring who around them was watching on the busy sidewalk.

 

When they pulled away, Laura could see a man who she presumed to be Theo in the window of the building giving them a look of disgust at their public display of affection. She shot him a look before turning back to the now silent woman in front of her.

 

“Tell you what. If you give me that check, I’ll go in there for you and get the storage keys. That way you won’t have to see him, and this can be quick and easy. Okay?”

 

Carmilla looked up with watery eyes and slowly handed the woman her crumpled check. She knew that this was pathetic, but she couldn’t bring herself to go inside.

 

“Okay, I’ll only be a few minutes. Wait right here.” Laura gently took the piece of paper from Carmilla’s grasp and kissed the woman’s forehead before heading into the main office of the apartment building.

 

As she opened the door, a bell chimed alerting Theo of her presence. Laura looked around at the entrance and noticed that it was a fairly bland building. The lobby walls were stark white with a black granite counter where Mr. Straka was currently sitting behind. There was a wall of grey mail slots behind him that only added to the dull feeling of the building. It struck Laura as odd that an artist of all people would choose to live here.

 

“Are you Theo?” Laura asked as she sized up the man behind the counter. From what she could tell he wasn’t much older than her and he was wearing a maroon knit sweater with a black collared shirt underneath. He could be seen as somewhat attractive if it weren’t for the sleazy smile on his face that made his overall appearance nauseating.

 

“Why yes I am young lady. May I ask what it is that I can do for you?” He bent over the counter and raked his eyes up and down Laura’s body.

 

“No you may not. And I’m here to talk to you about one of your tenants, Carmilla Karnstein.”

 

The man’s face turned into a scowl as he glanced out of the window towards the brunette who seemed to be focused on adjusting her sling. “I hope she’s here to give me my money, but while you’re here I’d much rather talk about you instead.” He reached out a hand to tuck some of the blonde’s hair behind her ear, but Laura quickly slapped his hand away.

 

“Do not touch me,” Laura growled out as Theo backed up a little in apprehension.

 

“Oh you’re one of those aren’t you. Truly unnatural you know. I think I could help you with that. And I have something that the bitch over there could never give you.”

 

“Oh please! I can guarantee you have more dick in your personality than you do in your pants. And if by ‘those’ you mean gay, then yes. I practically shit rainbows on the daily and I don’t think your micro-penis could fix that!” Laura ranted as she stared at the repulsive man in utter disbelief and anger.

 

“And as far as Carmilla’s property that you are currently holding hostage, I think it would be pertinent for you to know that my dad is an FBI agent that would have no problem arresting your homophobic ass. Now if you’ll give me those storage keys, I’ll be leaving.”

 

Theo reluctantly handed over the locker address and keys, but not before getting in his final words to preserve his dignity. “I can see Ms. Karnstein is sporting a lovely black sling. I’m glad to see she got what she deserved.”

 

Before Laura had even thought about it, her fist barreled right into Theo’s smug looking face as she dove over the counter. Her fist made contact with his nose and she felt a sickening crack vibrate through her bones. She felt the hit, but the adrenaline coursing through her body kept her from feeling any pain. She was sure her hand would regret that move later.

 

Theo’s body crumpled to the floor as blood gushed out of his most likely broken nose. He whimpered as he curled into a fetal position with the blonde still standing over him.

 

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to be.” With that Laura grabbed the storage locker keys and Carmilla’s check and left out the front door to be greeted by an anxious brunette running towards her. Carmilla threw her arm around Laura’s neck and pulled her close.

 

“I heard someone scream and I came right away! Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Why is your hand bloody?” Carmilla grabbed her hand and frantically checked it over for any obvious lacerations.

 

“Carm, everything’s fine. It’s not even mine.”

 

“What?” The brunette looked at the woman in front of her with clear confusion written across her face.

 

“Don’t worry about it. Everything is taken care of, and I even convinced him to forget about your last month’s rent and storage location costs.” Carmilla looked completely stunned so she just powered on. “Now that we have that taken care of, I can send my Dad a text and he can meet us at the storage warehouse. He already agreed this morning to help move your things.”

 

“My hero. What would I do without you?” Carmilla said as she threw her right arm over the blonde’s shoulders and led them back to the car.

\---

 

The women met Daniel at the front entrance of the warehouse before they decided to locate Carmilla’s things. The place was essentially just a rundown warehouse located in a sketchy part of the city. The girls had become increasingly nervous after they passed by a drug deal happening in broad daylight. Carmilla laughed when Laura non-discretely locked the doors as they passed by a rough looking man lumbering down the sidewalk with an eye patch.

 

Laura was happy that her father had offered to come because this wasn’t the type of place you should be without backup. If this place was this creepy during the day, she had no desire to see what it looked like at night.

 

The three entered through what they assumed was the main entrance and were surprised to realize that there were no workers watching the building. The door just opened up to a dark hallway of storage units, each enclosed by pull down shed doors with a combination lock.

 

“I see your landlord made sure to pick out a secure location to store your things,” Daniel spoke sarcastically as they all grimaced at the large rat that scampered across the cracked concrete floor into the darkness.

 

They all awkwardly laughed until Laura stepped into a puddle of murky water that had been leaking from one of the rusted pipes that lined the ceiling. She pouted and shook the liquid from her shoe, but some was still able to seep into her socks.

 

“Hold up. Here it is. Locker 1698,” Carmilla read from the small slip of paper just to double check.

 

Daniel stepped in front of the girls and put in the combination before he lifted the handle causing the whole door to creak as it opened into the small unit.

 

Carmilla walked into the dark room and pulled a string hanging from the center that dimly illuminated the storage container. All that was in the room was nine cardboard boxes and an old plush sofa that had clearly seen better days.

 

The brunette looked around her and felt a strange sense of emptiness at how almost everything she owned could fit into only nine boxes. It felt like everything she’s accomplished in her life added up to less than what she had thought.

 

Laura silently came up behind the girl and wrapped her arms around the brunette. “Let’s get these boxes into my dad’s truck and then we can all get something to eat before heading to your studio,” she whispered into Carmilla’s neck.

 

Carmilla only nodded in agreement, but started to snap out of her thoughts when they started to move everything out. She couldn’t lift anything herself, but she followed the two back and forth with the loads to give moral support. She liked to call it ‘supervising.’

 

All that was left was her sofa, but Laura couldn’t lift it on her own so the two women waited for Daniel to come back from dropping off his last load.

 

“Do you smell gasoline?” Carmilla asked into the almost empty container.

 

“Yeah. There must be a lawnmower or something in one of the nearby containers.” Laura sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose at the strong odor. “I’m going to see what’s taking him so long. I’ll be right back.”

 

Carmilla watched as Laura disappeared down the hallway. The flickering fluorescent lights were starting to freak her out so she walked back into the storage room to wait for her private movers to finish with the last of her things.

 

Something sparkly in the back corner of the container caught her eye as she made her way over to check it out. She picked up the small item and examined it in her hands. How odd that such an item would end up here.

 

Carmilla could hear footsteps coming closer, as she could hear the Hollis pack coming back. She turned around to say something to them, but when she looked towards the entrance she saw a figure dressed in all black with a clown mask staring back at her. She froze in place as panic controlled her paralyzed body.

 

Before she could make a break for the exit, the dark figure tossed a lit match into the room and pulled the door down with a loud slam. The noise sounded like gunfire, triggering the brunette’s PTSD. She dove towards the floor as her sofa burst into flames. The piece of furniture was completely engulfed in flames within seconds as plumbs of smoke billowed towards the ceiling.

 

Smoke started to fill the room and the taste of sulfur burned Carmilla’s throat as she gasped for air.

 

**“Help! Please somebody help me!!!!”**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muahahahaha;) Let me know what you guys thought! (P.s. I want to apologize in advance for my poor attempt at Hollstein sexy times. I really tried haha!)


	10. Chapter 10

Laura and her father stood outside of the warehouse as Daniel finished tying down the boxes at the far end of the bed in his truck. It was taking him longer than necessary to make room for the last piece of furniture that they needed to load, and Laura was losing her patience.

 

“Dad are you stalling for a reason, or are you just enjoying the sunshine?” Laura asked as she stood by the rear of the truck and tapped her foot impatiently.

 

Daniel wiped his forehead with the back of his hand even though there was no trace of sweat on his face. “Sorry pumpkin. I’m just thinking.” He finished the last knot securing everything in place.

 

“About what?”

 

“Does it seem odd to you that this is all Carmilla has to her name? Nine boxes and a beat up couch.”

 

They both looked at the boxes that didn’t even fill up half of the truck bed. Laura hadn’t really thought about it because some people weren’t as materialistic as others. For all she knew, Carmilla might prefer to only keep the essentials.

 

“Not really Dad. She’s a struggling artist. What were you expecting her to have?” Laura looked to her father with slight irritation at how judgmental he was being.

 

“No, Laura that’s not what I meant. I was doing a little background on her and…” Daniel started, but the tiny ball of rage was quick to interrupt.

 

“You did what?! You have no right to dig up her past without permission. If there was something that would put me in danger she would have told me immediately. I mean she saved my life Dad! What more do you want from her?” Laura finished her rant with tears welling up in her eyes from her disappointment in her father.

 

“Of course I had to look her up, and in my defense I had done so before I even came to visit. I had to do a background check on everyone involved with the robberies for the case. I didn’t flip out when you told me she was staying at your house because nothing showed up as suspicious.”

 

Laura ran her hand through her hair and then proceeded to drag it down her face with frustration. She wanted to be furious at her dad for invading Carmilla’s privacy, but she really couldn’t if it was crucial for the case. She needed him to catch this bastard.

 

“Have you not even looked her name up on google?” Daniel stared at his daughter in shock. He had raised his daughter to be cautious when meeting new people, but apparently that didn’t apply to Carmilla.

 

Laura looked away as she thought back to the past week week and a half. Not once had she thought to look her up or even question the brunette about her past. She had been so focused on taking care of her that her general curiosity took a back seat.

 

“No I guess I haven’t, but what does that have to do with anything?” Laura looked defensively at her father.  

 

“Well if you would have thought to research a little on who you let move into your apartment, then you would realize that your new roommate is a world renowned artist.” Laura cringed at the word roommate because it would imply a much less ‘friendly’ relationship. “Her last name is also a name that comes from money. Old money.”

 

Daniel looked at his daughter as the words started to sink in. Not only should Carmilla be rich, but she should be loaded. This begged the question of why was she living in such a run down place with barely anything to her name? And why the fuck didn’t she say anything?

 

“Well that’s interesting news. At least I know that she isn’t with me for my money,” Laura nervously laughed as her Dad looked at her as if she was missing the point. “Okay it’s a little odd that she would choose those living conditions if she had the choice, but we really don’t know her situation, and I’m sure she’ll tell us about her past when she’s ready.”

 

Laura couldn’t help the slight disappointment that seeped into her voice. She couldn’t understand why Carmilla hadn’t trusted her with any of this.

 

“You’re right sweetheart. I’m sorry for mentioning it. If it makes you feel better, I happen to really like her and I trust that she wouldn’t do anything to put you in harm’s way,” Daniel watched a small smile spread across Laura’s face at his approval. “Also I have to ask. What did you mean by she isn’t with me?” Daniel smirked as he added finger air quotes when he said ‘with me.’

 

“Okay I think we’ve been out here long enough!” Laura quickly turned on her heels and headed back towards the building with a vibrant blush coloring her cheeks.

 

Daniel chuckled to himself and ran after his daughter who was already at the entrance holding the door open for him.

\---

 

“Help! Please somebody help me!!!!”

 

“Did you hear something?”

 

Both Laura and Daniel stopped walking as they listened for the faint voice that filtered through the hall.

 

“Laura please help me!”

 

White filled Laura’s vision as she broke out in a full sprint towards Carmilla’s storage locker. Daniel was quick to catch up with her as they rounded the corner as fast as they could without slipping in on the wet concrete.

 

From about fifty yards away they could see a dark figure crouching by the brunette’s storage locker with Carmilla nowhere in sight. The area around him looked hazy, but they couldn’t tell where the fog was coming from.

 

“Please why are you doing this? I can’t breathe!”

 

It was clearly Carmilla’s voice that they could hear but it was slightly muffled from behind the sealed metal door. The figure turned towards the duo once he heard the echoing slap of their feet as they pounded their way towards him, but he kept holding down the door with the struggling brunette on the other side. It wasn’t long enough.

 

“Daddy they’re wearing a mask. Where is Carmilla?” Laura sobbed out without breaking her stride as they closed the distance.

 

“Hey get away from there!” Daniel yelled as Laura just kept screaming Carmilla’s name.

 

Once they were within fifty feet the figure in the clown mask let go of the handle and sprinted towards the exit at the back of the hallway.

 

“Get her out,” Daniel yelled over his shoulder as he stayed in pursuit of the getaway clown.

 

Now that Laura was at the unit she realized that the fog that was covering the area was in fact smoke and it was spilling from inside the storage unit. She pulled up the door with a hard yank and was bombarded with waves of thick smoke.

 

The smoke stung her eyes and burned her lungs as she frantically looked for the brunette, but she couldn’t give up. She had to find her.

 

“Carm! Baby where are you?” Laura’s voice filtered through the room, but all she could hear was the smoldering fire that engulfed the brunette’s sofa as it crackled and burned.

 

“Here,” was all Laura heard before she quickly jumped towards the sound. Her hands moved around the floor until she came in contact with Carmilla’s limp body. She grabbed the woman under her arms, and dragged her to safety down the hall a few units away.

 

Carmilla started violently coughing as fresh oxygen filled her lungs. Tears streamed from her eyes, but she couldn’t tell if it was from their exposure to the smoke, or from how happy she was to see her cupcake staring down at her.

 

Laura just held the woman in her arms and rocked them gently just as Carmilla had done to her when she had had her panic attack. Other than the soot that stained the brunette’s clothing, she couldn’t see any injuries on her body.

 

Both were at a loss for words so the sat on the floor together as Carmilla’s short wheezes turned into softer and deeper breaths. She had only been in there for a few minutes, but she could feel the effects from the short amount of time throughout her whole body.

 

“I guess we’re even now,” Carmilla said softly as they looked at each other with something that felt a lot like love.

 

Laura threaded her fingers through raven locks and whispered back, “Not even close.” She closed the distance to place a gentle kiss onto waiting lips. The kiss was only a consistent press of their lips against each other, but it gave them the feeling of stability that they so desperately craved.

 

In this moment they were so transfixed on each other that they missed Daniel as he jogged his way back to them with his government registered gun in hand.

 

He stopped in his tracks as he could see the two women in an intimate embrace. Relief immediately washed over him once he was able to see that both were okay. He knew it shouldn’t have been a surprise because he had basically given Carmilla his support, but it was still strange to see his daughter kissing anyone. He couldn’t help but think that they made a really beautiful couple.

 

Daniel wiped away a tear at the sight before that made his heart melt. He had never seen his daughter so happy, and he couldn’t deny that it was definitely due to the beautiful brunette that her lips were currently attached to. Once they had separated he felt comfortable to make his presence known.

 

“It was Will, the man responsible for the bank robberies and the murders. He got away, but I was able to get off a clean shot. It looked like it pierced one of his thighs so he left a significant trail of blood. The trail ends where he had left his getaway car, but the good news is that he was alone. With any luck he’ll have to go to a hospital or possibly forensics can get a hit off of a sample of his blood.”

 

“Why would his blood give you any more information than his name would?” Laura asked in curiosity as she kept her attention of Carmilla who had cuddled into her stomach.

 

“William Luce is not his real name. At least I don’t think it is. From what we could find, all of his files seem legit, but there’s nothing to be found on him from before the age of five. No birth certificate, no nothing. It just doesn’t make sense.” Daniel wiped his sweaty palms on his navy cargo pants. “We wanted to question his family, but we found out that his parents died on a family vacation in the Caribbean about a year ago, and he has no other known relatives. Maybe with his DNA we can find a match to someone already in our database.”

 

It was only now that Daniel looked down to Carmilla’s hand that was clutched into a fist. “What’s that?”

 

Laura followed her dad’s finger and saw that Carmilla was holding something tightly in her right palm. The brunette carefully handed the item over to Laura.

 

They all looked at the object with confusion. It was a small blue pacifier that looked like it had been through a lot over the years. What was probably a bright sky blue had dulled and yellowed with age into a pale powder blue. The rubber part had been chewed to bits with almost nothing left, but a jagged edge.

 

The pacifier was only an object, but it felt like it came with a past long forgotten. A story that they would never know the ending or beginning to. Who had this belonged to, and how had it gotten here?

 

“It was in the back corner of the unit. I had just picked it up when the clown shut me in,” Carmilla croaked out as she shuddered at the memory. Laura pulled her closer as she felt her shiver in her arms.

 

“I wonder if it was just left there from whoever had used this container before or if it was planted on purpose,” Daniel wondered aloud as closely observed the pacifier. He walked back into the storage unit.

 

The man looked around the room for any other clues, but all that had been left was the charred remains of the couch that almost took Carmilla’s life. He picked up some of the soot with his fingers and smelled the substance with a gentle whiff.

 

“Yup, that’s kerosene. It looks like he had doused the couch with it, and then lit it up once you were in here. I do find it odd that he didn’t spread it on the floor as well. He should’ve known that the concrete floors in here wouldn’t have spread the fire,” Daniel said as he paced the unit.

 

“Unless he wanted to smother me instead,” Carmilla spoke and all eyes turned to her. “I mean it’s possible right? Had he kept the door shut for long enough I would have died from oxygen deprivation.”

 

Both Daniel and Laura frowned as the image of the man keeping the door shut tight filtered through their minds.

 

Carmilla’s bitter laugh brought the Hollises back from their thoughts. “I was almost killed by a fucking clown. I’ve been afraid of those things since I was a kid.”

\---

 

Daniel had called in the incident right after Will’s escape, so before long they were all hauled outside to a few ambulances and a half dozen cop cars.

 

Carmilla was immediately taken to one of the ambulances and hooked up to an oxygen tank and an IV, while the Hollises were taken over to be questioned by police since they possessed no injuries.

 

Laura lasted about five minutes before she not so politely excused herself to be with Carmilla. She respected the police, but she knew her broody little artist would need some company to keep her calm with all of the commotion that was going on.

 

Daniel handled all of the questioning and got them out of there immediately after Carmilla was cleared to leave by the EMTs. They had told her that she was very lucky to escape with only slight dehydration which the brunette swore wasn’t from before because Laura had been practically force feeding her fluids the last few days.

 

“Okay let’s head back to the apartment drop off this stuff and get cleaned up. Then we can go grab some lunch at the diner,” Daniel said as they walked back to their cars.

\---

 

“Hi my name Ell and I’ll be your server today. Can I start you guys off with some drinks?” The bleach blonde woman addressed the entire table, but her eyes stayed glued to Carmilla as she looked her up and down with hungry eyes.

 

The brunette had her eyes cast down to her menu so she didn’t notice when Laura sent daggers at the girl. Nobody had seemed to notice her murder eyes except Daniel who kept looking between the three women with mild amusement.

 

The waitress had straight medium length blonde hair that sat around shoulders and swayed when she talked. The woman’s hair was bleach blonde, but seemed naturally so from the lack of damage to its shine. Her eyes were a glacial blue that seemed to pierce into whoever they were looking at, and Ell’s body was lengthy and athletic to the point where just looking at her could make a person self conscious. Objectively speaking, the woman was quite beautiful, but Laura was too preoccupied with the ‘fuck me’ eyes she was giving her broody artist.

 

“I’ll have a coke,” Daniel tried to break up whatever was happening by clearing his throat. Only Carmilla looked over at him in acknowledgment before looing back at her menu with interest. He wasn’t sure if she knew what was going on or if she was just as oblivious as she looked. His daughter was starting to turn red as the server still hadn’t taken the hint to back off.

 

“I’ll have a grape soda,” Laura said through gritted teeth as she tried to push the jealousy down.

 

Ell wrote down their drinks, but kept her focus on the brunette who had still to look up at her.

 

“And what can I get for you sweetheart?” she asked in a sickly sweet voice that had a thinly veiled seductive undertone. Her smirk widened as Carmilla finally glanced up at her, but the moment was over quick as the brunette turned her attention to the seething girl beside her.

 

“I think I’ll get a grape soda too,” Carmilla smiled at the blonde as she booped her nose with her finger. She wasn’t sure what she had missed, but Laura seemed much more tense than usual. The longer she stared at her the more she seemed to relax, so she didn’t look away.

 

The waitress deflated a little at Carmilla’s lack of interest in her. She left the booth to go grab them their drinks, but made sure to swing her hips a little more on the way back.

 

Daniel still had his head turned to look at the retreating server so Carmilla quickly leaned over and placed a kiss on Laura’s cheek. Laura blushed a little, but leaned into the brunette’s side as they waited for their drinks.

 

Mr. Hollis looked back at the girls and smiled at the lack of space they were taking up on their side of the booth. He held in a laugh at how jealous Laura could be. She was an only child so sharing really wasn’t in her vocabulary. He focused back to the brunette who was trying to hide the adorable smile that his daughter always was able to pull out of the broody woman.

 

“Carmilla I know you probably just want to forget about today, but I have to ask you something that’s been bothering me,” Daniel spoke in a hushed tone as the brunette looked back at him with a nervous expression. “Is there any chance that you have seen Will Luce before the bank robbery? Maybe he was a neighbor or a client of yours in the past. Think really hard.”

 

Carmilla closed her eyes in concentration, but nothing of importance came to mind. The name didn’t even ring a bell. She thought back to anyone she might have pissed off (there were a lot), but there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

 

Laura glanced at her father before bringing her hand up and rubbed her thumb between the brunette’s eyebrows where crinkles had formed.

 

Daniel had to hold back tears at the familiar gesture. When his wife would furrow her eyebrows, much like Laura does now, he would rub away the tension that was held there. It was an affectionate gesture that Laura had seemed to pick up from when she was a child.

 

Carmilla opened her eyes to look at Daniel’s questioning blue ones and shook her head no before letting it turn towards the table in defeat.

 

“No there’s nothing. I’m sorry. It doesn’t make sense why he would come back to finish me off. How would he even know we were going to be there?” Carmilla asked as the waitress came back with their drinks.

 

Mr. Hollis quickly caught Ell’s attention before she could start anything, and ordered a double bacon burger with french fries. After his order she immediately turned to Carmilla who looked straight to Laura. Daniel smirked at the realization that Carmilla was definitely doing this on purpose. Not as oblivious as she seemed.

 

“I haven’t been here before. Can you order for me cutie? I’ll get whatever you’re having.” Carmilla asked to the blonde beside her who was beaming back at with pride.

 

Laura took the brunette’s hand in hers, but winced a little when Carmilla squeezed her bruised hand. Before anyone could ask if she was okay, she ordered them one large stack of chocolate chip pancakes to share, and two orders of bacon.

 

Ell angrily scratched down the order on her small notepad and ripped it off with a dramatic flail of her hand.

 

“Coming right up,” she angrily spat as she stalked back over to the kitchen.

 

The three of them burst into laughter after the woman was out of ear shot.

 

“Well that was certainly interesting, but to answer your question, I think I’ll have a little chat with your landlord,” Daniel said as Laura’s eyes widened a comical amount. “I find it strange that he would send your things to a facility like that. And what are the chances that Mr. Luce just so happened to be there with prior access to your unit. He would have had to have access to your locker before we even got here for him to have time to douse the couch in kerosene.”

 

“Okay about that. Before you go and talk to him it might be important for you to know that I may have gotten in a small altercation with Mr. Straka earlier today,” Laura said in a small voice as she looked sheepishly away from the two.

 

“What kind of altercation?” The other two replied in unison as they stared at the blonde with curious eyes.

 

“Well my fist may have hit him in the face really hard and possibly broke his nose.” Carmilla and Daniel stared at her with mirrored expressions of shock so she continued. “He was trying to hit on me, and then he said something nasty about Carm so I kinda lost it.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear while Carmilla’s grip on her hand dramatically lessened.

 

Daniel stared hard at his daughter, but couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at her actions. From what it sounded like she was standing up for herself and Carmilla, so he couldn’t be angry over that.

 

“Mmhhmmmm. So you’re telling me that you punched Mr. Straka for being a sleazy homophobic asshole,” Daniel slowly said while Laura nodded back at him. “That’s my girl!”

 

Daniel leaned across the table and pulled a confused Laura into a big bear hug.

 

“So you’re not mad?” Laura muffled into his shoulder as he slowly let go.

 

“Of course I’m not mad! You stood up for yourself and honestly I trust your judgment. I’m sure he deserved it. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to use the restroom.” Daniel disappeared into the bathroom leaving the two women alone.

 

Laura finally glanced over at the brunette who was looking at her as if she had personally hung all of the stars in the sky just for her. “What?”

 

Instead of answering Carmilla brought her injured hand to her lips and left a warm kiss to each of her bruised knuckles. She kissed her way up the blonde’s arm and neck until she finally reached her lips where she placed a passionate kiss that left Laura wanting more.

 

Laura chased her lips with closed eyes, but frowned when she was met with nothing. She felt a quick peck pressed to her lips as she opened her eyes to a smiling Carmilla. Just a smile from the woman left her absolutely breathless.

 

“Thank you,” was all Carmilla said before a disgruntled waitress loudly placed one of the dishes onto the table.

 

After Ell had placed the final dish onto the table she turned to Carmilla who put on a bored expression and muttered a tired thank you in her direction. The waitress was not one to give up easy so she leaned in close to Carmilla with a seductive smirk.

 

“Enjoy your meal, and if there is anything else I can offer you be sure to let me know.”

 

Before the server was even able to get out the last word, Laura grabbed the brunette’s face into her hands, and started to kiss her senseless in front of the persistent blonde. It was supposed to be a message to tell the insufferable ‘server’ that Carmilla was off limits, but she quickly became lost in the kiss as their lips collided again and again. Passion lit a fire in her stomach and all she craved for was Carmilla. Her lips, her kiss, her touch, her other things…

 

After a not so subtle cough from a fellow customer the girls split apart far sooner than either of them wanted to.

 

“Remind me to make you jealous more often,” Carmilla whispered as she saw Daniel exit out of the bathroom.

 

“Aww you girls didn’t have to wait for me to eat,” he laughed as he started to dig into his bacon burger. “I was thinking we could head over to to your studio Carmilla for a tour if you’re still up for it.”

 

“Of course,” Carmilla easily replied.

 

Both girls stifled their laughter as they dug into their meals too. About halfway through their stack of pancakes, Carmilla took off her scarf that Laura had put around her neck before they had left the apartment. She had convinced her to wear it after she decided she didn’t want to wear the scratchy turtle neck Laura had put her in this morning after telling her that it was too cold to have an exposed neck.

 

Laura turned to see what she was doing, but gagged on her pancakes at the sight. Carmilla’s neck was strewn with dark red hickeys from their little game earlier that morning. She had tried to hide them from the woman and her father all day, but now they were on full display for the whole restaurant to see.

 

Daniel had glanced up at the sound of Laura coughing up her food, but his attention was quickly drawn to the angry red marks that covered Carmilla’s throat.

 

**“Carmilla, I think you have burns on your neck!”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See I'm not completely evil!! I had no idea how invested some of you are in my story and I wanted you all to know that it really means a lot:') Your passion will always be something I admire. Let me know what you thought in the comments below!


	11. Chapter 11

After promising Daniel that she would get the ‘burns’ on her neck checked out by a physician, Carmilla had suggested that they head over to her art studio for their personal tour. Daniel was so excited that he was already out the door by the time Laura was able to help Carmilla into her jacket and scarf.

 

On the short walk from the diner to her studio, Carmilla could feel her anxiety building inside her chest the closer they got. The purpose of the studio was for Carmilla to have a place to create her art in solitude. It was a space that was only for her and her creations, free from the judgments of others.

 

She had never brought anyone there because her art revealed more of herself than her words ever could. When she painted, her thoughts and emotions were turned into colors and lines that bled into the white canvas like blood on gauze. Her studio was where the inner labyrinth of her mind was turned into something more tangible, more real. Sometimes she hadn’t even known what she was truly feeling until she saw it for herself as it appeared before her on the canvas. Her art was a visual journal, private and personal and completely her own.

 

In her gallery showings, she got to pick and chose which pieces she wanted people to see, which parts of herself she was willing to show. Unlike her gallery paintings, her studio held pieces that weren’t meant for the public’s prying eyes. The good, the bad, and the ugly were exposed in all their glory as she let her creativity run free. Carmilla had never let anyone else step foot in her safe space. That was until Laura.

 

The brunette watched as Daniel sped-walked a few paces in front of them with a huge smile plastered on his face. Had she known that he would be this excited about her art, she would have invited him the moment they had met. Taking a bullet for his daughter had already put her in his good graces, but maybe this tour will give them something to talk about. Something to prove her worthy of Laura.

 

She looked over at Laura and was startled to find that the blonde had already been watching her intently with her honey brown eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. A warm smile rested on her face as she leaned into her with her lips by Carmilla’s right ear.

 

“Thank you for this. Art has always been an interest of his so this really means a lot to him. I’m also really excited to see a talent of yours that doesn’t involve your lips. Although I’d be more than happy to get a repeat performance of earlier,” Laura said in a hushed tone as she ran her tongue along the shell of Carmilla’s ear. Carmilla shivered in response and Laura wrapped her arm around the woman’s waist and pulled her into her side.

 

Mr. Hollis rambled on about his first visit to an art museum when he was only six, but when he looked over to the girls he realized that they weren’t there. Daniel turned around to be met with the sight of the two missing women walking slowly with their arms wrapped around each other about fifty paces back. Carmilla had her uninjured arm hooked around his daughter’s shoulders with her face pressed into blonde hair, while Laura had both of her arms encased around the brunette’s waist as they struggled to walk without falling over.

 

They were so caught up in each other that they didn’t even realize that Daniel had stopped walking. It wasn’t until they collided with the mountain of a man that they realized they weren’t alone.

 

Instead of saying anything, Daniel just wrapped his muscular arms around the two women and smooshed them together even more. Muffled laughter vibrated against his chest as the girls struggled against his strong but gentle grip.

 

“You guys forgot to invite me to your group hug, so I thought I would just invite myself,” Daniel said nonchalantly as he refused to let go of the squirming women. People walking on the busy street looked at the three with either amused or horrified expressions, but Daniel couldn’t care less.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, so this is it,” Carmilla said as unlocked the door and swung it open. The two Hollises scurried inside with pent up excitement as they escaped the grasp of the cold winter wind. Carmilla stepped in behind them and flicked on the lights that brought the place to life.

 

Laura and Daniel looked around the room with wide eyes, but didn’t move anywhere as they just took everything in.

 

The first thing that drew in everyone’s attention was the warm glow that emanated from the thousands of white fairy lights strung around the room. They lined the edges of the walls and coiled around the wooden support beams that ran across the open ceiling from one end to the building to the other.

 

A wooden spiral staircase could be seen at the far end of the room with the black metal rails wrapped in lights as it led up to a smaller sized loft. From what they could see, the open second floor loft had enough room for a full sized bed to comfortably fit.

 

The walls in the room were pitch black, but the string lights put off more than enough light for the studio to be functional. The ceiling also had built in lights that shined light into every corner creating a warm ambiance that hung in the room. Laura looked down at the floors and was surprised to see they were wooden, but covered in a clear laminated surface that protected them for the paint Carmilla more often than not spilled.

 

Although the lights were stunning, what really took the show was the canvases strewn around the room in artistic chaos. Artwork covered every work table and easel as far as the eye could see. Canvases of all different sizes and stages of completion sat on full display. Laura wanted to take in every piece, but stayed in place as she had no idea where to even begin.

 

Carmilla shifted from one foot to the other as the silence stretched on. Daniel and Laura stayed silent as their eyes flitted around the room, never staying in one place for too long. Her discomfort became obvious as she broke the deafening silence that was ringing in her ears.

 

“Feel free to look around and ask any questions if you have any,” Carmilla said, but cringed at the formality in her voice. She relaxed a little when Mr. Hollis and Laura dispersed to look around the room.

 

Carmilla hadn’t at all prepared for company so she wasn’t even sure what pieces were out. She took a quick look around, but her heart dropped when she realized what painting Laura had landed on. Out of every piece she could have picked, Laura found the one that represented the worst day of her life.

 

The painting was of a young girl in a black dress kneeling on the ground. She was clawing at the dirt beneath her body with muddy hands and broken nails. She knelt in the middle of a dirt patch that had grass growing around its perfectly cut edges more than twice the size of her body in the shape of a rectangle. Her dress was tattered and torn, and her hair lay around her shoulders in perfect raven curls that seemed to not fit with the rest of the image. Her features were of pure distress as they stayed frozen in a permanent scream. If Carmilla looked at the painting for long enough she could almost feel it tearing her throat raw.

 

This image itself was enough to disturb a viewer, but what really completed the painting was the tears of blood that leaked from the child’s closed eyes and dripped down into the dirt to soak the earth red.

 

Laura hadn’t known how long she had been staring at this particular painting, but she could feel tears track down her face as she stared at the little girl. The child’s pain became her own as she traced her fingers on the image of her torn dress, as if she could fix it with just her touch. It brought feelings of suffering, agony, and despair that transferred through the canvas into her mind. One word stood out among the rest that seemed to encompass the entity of the painting, and it was one that scared her the most. Broken.

 

Laura felt a small sob escape her chest at the possibility that this little girl was the very woman who had painted her. The resemblance was too similar to be a coincidence. It made her want to rip out her heart and replace the girl’s broken one with her own, but what that little girl doesn’t know is that hers is already a matching pair.

 

Carmilla fearfully approached the blonde as she could see her shoulders shaking slightly. When she stood by her side she could see the tears and the grief etched into the woman’s face as she refused to turn her attention away from the painting to look at Carmilla.

 

They stared at the painting in silence, but inched closer to each other until their sides stayed pressed together. Laura grabbed for Carmilla’s hand and whispered into the still room, “It hurts.”

 

“I know.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Carmilla, your work is absolutely stunning! The emotion mixed with your exquisite technique is something to be proud of,” Daniel rambled on as they all headed back to Laura’s apartment. He had been so caught up in her other pieces that he had completely missed the moment the two women had shared in the studio.

 

Right before they had left, Carmilla had grabbed a sketchbook from her workbench to bring with her. She was itching to draw something after their visit. Watching Laura, she had felt something that she hadn’t in a long time. Inspired.

 

She walked beside the blonde with her leather book tucked beneath her arm as she listened to the compliments that didn’t sound any different from what she’s already heard a million times before. Many people could appreciate the emotion behind her pieces, but she never felt that anyone really understood it. She had always watched people look at her art with awed expressions at her talent, but something about Laura’s reaction surprised her. Nobody had ever understood how deep her art truly goes, but something in her heart told her that maybe the silent girl beside her did.

 

Laura had been pretty quite since back at the studio, but her Dad filled in the silence with a constant string of compliments that kept the conversation rolling. Laura was lost in thought at what she had just seen, what she had felt. Some of the art felt less like paintings and more like small windows into Carmilla’s soul.

 

“Well I guess it’s time that I head back to the hotel. I want to go over my case files again and see if there’s anything that I might have missed,” Daniel said once they reached the apartment.

 

“Carmilla thank you again for the tour and make sure you guys don’t forget your physical therapy appointment scheduled for tomorrow.” He leaned over and gave his daughter a kiss on the head before doing the same to Carmilla.

 

Mr. Hollis and the brunette watched Laura as she turned away and headed for the staircase without a word goodbye. She had an unnervingly blank expression painted across her face as she made her way into the apartment leaving the other two behind.

 

“Take care of her,” he said, but before Carmilla had a chance to follow her he placed a hand on her shoulder. “There are some things about Laura that you don’t know yet, but I promise she’ll tell you when she’s ready. I think you’ll find that you two are more similar than you even realize.”

 

Carmilla nodded at the man in sincerity, but she wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by that. She made her way up the stairs as Daniel watched from his truck as she disappeared into the apartment.

 

Daniel could sometimes be oblivious, but he wasn’t an idiot. He saw the same thing that Laura had seen in the artwork. The difference was that he was exposed to that kind of pain everyday in his job. He had seen it so many times before. He could only hope that Laura could help take some of it away, so that Carmilla in turn could do the same.

 

He started the truck and slowly made his way out of the secluded parking lot and back onto the bustling street of Toronto as thoughts of his wife filled his mind and his heart.

 

* * *

 

 Carmilla slowly walked into the living room and noticed that the TV was on, but the blonde was nowhere in sight.

 

_“Reports say that this shooting has been the deadliest thus far. Much like the other robberies, William Luce had held twelve hostages at gunpoint, but he did not take any money from the bank. Ten of the twelve are said to be dead, and the other two have been taken to Toronto General and are in critical condition this evening. Names are not being released, but the families will be notified after the victims are identified by the medical examiner. Sources are saying that there was one piece of evidence that has caught police attention. The letters CK were said to be written in blood across one of the walls in the building…”_

Carmilla quickly shut the television as her mind started to reel at what the news report had just said. What were the chances that Will had wrote her initials at the scene by accident? It had to mean something.

 

What kept coming to her mind was the fact that she always signed her paintings with a script CK at the bottom right corner after completion. It was a trademark she used to identify her work, but how would he know that? Why would he care?

 

She pushed her thoughts away as she went in search for her missing cupcake. This new development was clearly important, but she would never put her problems above Laura.

 

Carmilla walked further into the house past her packed boxes when she heard rustling coming from the bedroom. She stepped into the entryway and was confused by the sight before her.

 

Laura was moving quickly around the room as she moved her clothes around in the dresser and pushed everything in her closet to one side. What broke Carmilla’s heart was the tears that streamed down the woman’s face as she rushed around the room. As the blonde was about to buzz by her again, Carmilla caught her arm and pulled her to her.

 

“Laura talk to me. What’s wrong?” Carmilla wrapped her arm around Laura’s waist and pulled her closer until their foreheads rested together.

 

“The painting. Was it you?” Laura looked into the brunette’s tormented eyes as she waited for a response. All Carmilla could do was nod and that was all the confirmation Laura needed. She bent her head down and kissed the skin above the woman’s thrumming heart.

 

_I can fix it._

 

* * *

 

 While Carmilla was still asleep in her bed the next morning, Laura got changed and ready to go teach her sunrise yoga class. She had one of her fellow instructors filling her spot for the past week and a half, so she thought she would head to the studio to get back into the groove of things.

 

They still had five more hours before Carmilla’s physical therapy appointment so there was more than enough time for her to teach the class and make it back in time to get the brunette ready. Odds were Carmilla wouldn’t even get up until she got back anyways.

 

Laura walked back into the bedroom to say goodbye to the brunette, but when she turned around she saw a pair of sleepy dark eyes watching her and she packed her yoga mat into her bag. Instead of using her words Carmilla reached out her right hand towards Laura and made a grabby motion at the blonde.

 

Laura giggled as she made her way over to the sleepy brunette who had yet to stop her hand movements. Once she got to the side of the bed, Carmilla’s hand shot out and pulled the blonde on top of her with a strong tug of her tank top.

 

Carmilla wrapped her arm and both of her legs around the woman until she was completely secured to her. She let out a sigh of contentment as Laura just laughed at her inability to move.

 

“Mmmhhhh, I love these pants,” Carmilla said in a raspy voice as her hand traveled to Laura’s ass and gave it a squeeze.

 

“Ooookkkaaaayy! As much as I would love to continue this, I have a class to teach before we head over to your appointment,” Laura said as she tried to resist the brunette’s advances. Her words were saying one thing, but her body had yet to try to move out of Carmilla’s grasp.

 

“Or you could stay here and teach me some yoga. I’m sure you know all sorts of positions to put me in,” Carmilla husked out as she left open mouthed kisses all over the blonde’s throat. She could feel Laura’s groan of frustration vibrate against her lips as the woman tried to find a stitch of restraint.

 

Laura turned the woman’s face up to hers and crashed their lips together in a fervent kiss. She pressed her body into the brunette beneath her as she felt the passion flow between their clothed bodies. She let that go on for a few minutes before regrettably pulling away.

 

“Okay now I really have to go or else I’ll be late,” Laura said as she kissed the pout Carmilla was currently sporting. “I’ll be back before you know it.” She hopped off the bed and gave a final wave goodbye as she ran out the door.

 

Carmilla flopped back onto the bed with a huff as her lips still tingled in the absence of Laura’s. _So fucking close._

 

* * *

 

 

 “Carm, seriously? Stop being a big baby,” Laura whined as she dragged a grumbling Carmilla into the physical therapy clinic that they had been standing in front of for the last five minutes.

 

She gently tugged the brunette by the lapels of her black leather jacket that the woman had been adamant on wearing since they had unpacked her clothes. The jacket was only half put on because the sleevet was far too tight to fit around her sling. Laura had to walk tucked into her exposed side to keep her body warm from the brutal wind. (not that she minded all that much)

 

Laura was a little bummed that Carmilla didn’t have to wear her clothes anymore now that she was reunited with her own, but she had caught the broody woman wearing her sweatshirt when she returned home from teaching her yoga class that morning. It was the same one that she had worn to bed last night. Butterflies had erupted in her stomach at the sight of the brunette sleeping with her nose pressed into the fabric.

 

“I’m not being a baby! I just don’t understand why I need to come here to have some doctor feel up my shoulder in the 'name of medicine.' I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself thank you very much,” Carmilla huffed as she turned away from Laura as they entered the waiting room.

 

Carmilla had been doing well with the at-home exercises that Mr. Hollis had given her, but her surgeon had been adamant on her seeing a physical therapist to aid in her recovery, so Laura had made her come to the appointment whether the woman liked it or not. And she clearly had not.

 

“Nobody is going to be feeling you up. Don’t make it sound so creepy,” Laura laughed as she looked at the stubborn brunette sulking in her seat as they waited for her name to be called.

 

“For all you know, you could be sending me into a room alone with a sexy doctor who will try to sweep me off my feet, and you won’t be the only one trying to feel me up,” Carmilla said in an effort to rile Laura up enough to get her to leave. She could see a hint of jealousy flash across the blonde’s features, but before she had a chance to respond they were interrupted.

 

“Ms. Carmilla Karnstein,” an old voice called out in a strong Austrian accent, startling the women.

 

Both women looked over to see an old man with a walking cane standing over by one of the examination rooms with a clipboard in hand. His hair was snow white and a bald spot could clearly be seen shining as it reflected the cold fluorescent lighting from the ceiling. His back curved slightly towards the earth, betraying the age of the doctor. His smile was tight, but not unpleasantly so, and his eyes held a glint of mischief as he watched the small interaction happening between the blonde and the clearly agitated brunette. Saying that he didn’t think Ms. Karnstein wanted to be here was a vast understatement.

 

“I’m not worried,” Laura whispered into her ear before she turned to the doctor and waved to him. He walked over to the sulking brunette and held out his hand.

 

“Ahhh Fräulein Karnstein! I’m Dr. Vordenburg, and…” his clipboard fell to the floor with a loud clatter. “Oh shnick shnack!”

 

“That’s it. I’m not going.”

 

* * *

 

 

Laura had been anxiously sitting in the waiting room for only about fifteen minutes before her leg had begun to bounce up and down on the chair. She had wanted to go in with Carmilla, but the brunette had refused by saying that “she would be fine on her own.”

 

Her father had warned the blonde that physical therapy can be quite painful, especially for the first few sessions. The muscles and the tissues become weak without use which can cause severe discomfort along with the actual wound itself can be a great source of pain when aggravated. She had been listening for any signs of distress from the other room, but so far she had heard nothing. Knowing tht Carmilla could be in pain was really putting her on edge.

 

**“Ouch!”**

Without thinking, Laura sprung from her seat and ignored the man at the front desk telling her she wasn’t allowed back there. She sprinted towards the door that the brunette and Dr. Vordenburg had gone into earlier and swung it open with an excessive amount of force.

 

What she was met with caused her brows to furrow as she looked at a clearly distressed doctor cowering in the farthest corner from the seemingly bored brunette seated on the examination table.

 

“What the frilly hell happened?” Laura looked between the two as she waited for an answer.

 

“I was doing a routine examination, and Ms. Karnstein here kicked my shin!” He looked at her with outrage as she apathetically chipped away at the black nail polish that lined her fingernails.

 

“It was a reflex,” she simply stated with apparent disinterest in the situation.

 

“I was examining your arm!” Dr. Vordenburg exclaimed as he looked to the blonde for help.

 

“Can you give us a minute?” Laura looked to the doctor who huffed in disbelief, but walked out of the room with the sharp click of his cane hitting the white tiled floor.

 

As soon as the door had shut behind him Laura looked back to see that Carmilla was still looking down at her hands. The blonde would have been mad if she hadn’t seen the tear that silently rolled down the woman’s cheek and stained her navy blue tee shirt.

 

Laura gently took the brunette’s chin between her thumb and pointer finger and turned her face up towards her. She stepped in between the injured woman’s legs that hung off of the examination table and stared into the glistening eyes that looked back at her in pure vulnerability.

 

“You know it’s okay to let people see you cry right? When you’re in pain, it’s okay to show that it hurts,” Laura softly cooed as she traced the woman’s exposed shoulder lightly with her fingertips. She felt the tension release as she replaced her fingertips with her lips.

 

With each light kiss she focused on taking away the woman’s pain and pressing her love into every bit of skin that had been aggravated.

 

“Can you stay with me?” Carmilla asked weakly, as if she was afraid of the woman before her saying no.

 

“Of course baby,” Laura reassured as she leant in to give her brave trooper a kiss.

 

* * *

 

 

The rest of the appointment went smoothly as Dr. Vordenburg cautiously moved Carmilla’s injured arm around, and massaged some of the built up scar tissue to break it up.

 

Pain pulsed through Carmilla’s arm like electrical currents, but the blonde was always there to keep her grounded. Laura just held her right hand and squeezed it every time she felt the brunette flinch, just to let her know that she was right there with her.

 

After the appointment was done, Carmilla was immediately given ice and Advil, and told to sit down for a few minutes before she was clear to go. Laura had taken that time to go over to discuss some things with Dr. Vordenburg before they left.

 

“See that wasn’t so bad,” Laura said as she made her way back over to Carmilla who was laid down with her eyes closed. She carded her fingers through soft raven hair to try and provide her some comfort. Carmilla scoffed in exhaustion, but leant into the blonde’s touch none the less.

 

“I talked with Dr. Vordenburg, and we came up with something that I think you might like.”

 

“I’m listening.” Carmilla turned her head towards the cupcake who was smiling down at her.

 

“Instead of coming here twice a week, you only have to come once a week if you agree to an alternative that we came up with,” Laura spoke slowly as she watched the brunette vigorously nod her head. “Well if you’re up for it, I can give you a private yoga lesson every Wednesday before my class to help strengthen your shoulder. We discussed everything you’re allowed to do, so it’s all set if that’s something you would be interested in.”

 

“As long as you wear those pants from this morning, you have a deal.”

 

Carmilla’s heart rate spiked at the thought of a private yoga lesson with Laura and her sinfully tight yoga apparel. She wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to go, but she had never been more excited for something in her entire life.

 

**_Namaste bitches._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy fucking angst! My bad guys, I really have no idea where that came from. Let me know if anything in particular resonated with you and I'd be happy to talk about it. Also let me know if you guys would be interested in me attempting to write smut in the next chapter because my awkward ass needs a little encouragement haha!!


	12. Chapter 12

“Hey can you drop me off here? I think I’m just going to paint for awhile,” Carmilla asked before Laura’s Jeep had past by her studio.

 

Laura looked over in slight apprehension, but pulled over none the less. They were on their way back from the brunette’s physical therapy appointment, so Laura had assumed that Carmilla would just want to rest up for the remainder of the afternoon.

 

“Of course. Do you want me to come with you?” Laura suggested more than asked because she really didn’t want to leave the woman alone after the taxing session they had.

 

“No, I just need some time alone to clear my head.” Carmilla looked over at the nervous woman beside her and leant over the console to give her a sweet kiss which Laura couldn’t help but smile into. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to lock the door after I’m inside, and call you when I’m all done.”

 

Carmilla carefully got out of the car without tweaking her injury and blew the blonde a kiss goodbye as she quickly made her way to her studio, away from the frigid air. Her hand fumbled with the key a little, but she managed to get in in the lock and twist.

 

The heavy wooden door unlocked with a low click and the smell of acrylics washed over her as she stepped over the threshold. The smell did wonders for her nerves as she let the familiar atmosphere relax her chaotic mind.

 

She could hear Laura’s Jeep finally pull away from the curb after the blonde was positive that Carmilla was settled safely inside the building.

 

The smaller woman had waited a few moments longer than necessary as her inner thoughts fought through the conflict of whether or not to leave the woman all by herself. She felt embarrassed at her show of separation anxiety, but so much had happened in the last two weeks that she really couldn’t be faulted for her worries.

 

Laura had eventually settled on giving Carmilla a few hours to herself while she ran some errands that she was planning on doing alone anyways. She had thought about surprising Carmilla with some takeout and dessert from the bakery, so this gave her an opportunity to get everything together without the brunette’s knowledge. She drove off and pushed down the growing ball of anxiety that was building in her throat as the studio grew smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Carmilla’s gaze travelled around the room as she looked at her surrounding that used to feel like home. She had only been gone for a little less than two weeks, but something felt different. Something felt off.

 

Her eyes landed on an empty canvas that she had set up the day before the shooting, at a time when her routine was consistent, but comfortably so. She would always wake up past noon, get her “brunch” and coffee from the café down the street, and then head to her studio to spend the rest of the day painting. Every night she would set up a new canvas to do the name thing the next day. This routine gave her stability, and had always been what she wanted in her life since she was a child. It was enough, until now that is.

  

Now that blank canvas represented a break in the routine. It stared back at her with anticipation she could feel in her fingertips, as it lay in stark contrast to its colorful surroundings. She made her way over to the canvas and ran her fingers down the rigid surface as it waited to come alive.

 

Everything was set up except for her paints. She used her right hand to squeeze out specific portions of the pigment that lay in seemingly disorganized rows on her palette like she had done thousands of times before. The colors so pristine and perfect, and practically begging to be touched. Mixed into new creations that proved to be even more beautiful than what they were at the start.

 

She picked up her first brush and poised it over the palette as if waiting for inspiration to hit, but as the minutes passed, a strange feeling sat in the pit of her stomach. Her hand wanted to move, but her mind wouldn’t let her. Imprisoned by an invisible force beyond her control.

 

She stared at the white surface with a glare as it mocked her from its perch. Frustration flooded her mind as her arm stayed frozen in place.

 

_Nothing._

 

* * *

 

**Red. Red. Red.**

Paint bled from her brush as she stippled the canvas in aggravation. Out of all the colors imaginable, just one held her brush captive as it came back to the same cadmium red that smeared itself across the canvas in violent strokes.

 

Monotone and uniform. Lacking variety and imagination. A mere attempt at a masterpiece that flashed behind her eyelids like an old photo projector that was stuck on a particular slide. Click, click, click, but the image stayed the same, unable to move forward.

 

Paint was still paint. The consistency not close enough to blood. Her blood, as it spattered across the white wall of the bank in beautiful configurations like art by the Gods. It had splattered and dripped, but paint can’t do the same, its texture too dissimilar. Carmilla’s arm moved frantically as she tried to match its complexity, but it only felt like a cheap copy of an original she could never possess.

 

The masterpiece that will forever overshadow anything she could ever create with her bare hands. She was the artist, yet how could she be upstaged by a mere madman. One who used  _ **HER**_  paint to make his own creation.

 

Carmilla growled out as she threw her paintbrush across the room in frustration, but it did little to quell the storm raging in her head. Emotions from the bank resurfaced and all she could feel was anger as it burned deep in her core. Her hand dragged down the canvas through the paint that just couldn’t compare.

 

* * *

 

Laura held the bags of takeout and baked goods in both hands as she stood outside Camilla’s studio. The windows had been drawn shut so when she tried to take a peek at her broody artist, all she could see was darkness. She paced back in forth in an effort to retain any body heat she could as the brutal wind rusted her clothes, but it was to no avail.

 

It had already been three hours since she dropped Carmilla off, but her phone had not rung once and she was beginning to get worried. The sun was setting and the air had become intolerable as it bit into any exposed skin from her face to her ankles. Her cheeks stung as she stood by the door debating on whether to knock or wait for a call.

 

After she couldn’t bare waiting any longer, she reached for the door handle with her mitten clad hand while trying to balance the food with the other. Much to her surprise, it opened with a quiet creak. Irritation flared at the realization that Carmilla conveniently forgot to lock the door, but she pushed that down as she stepped out of the harsh wind.

 

Laura timidly crept into the quiet studio making sure not to make any loud noises that could spook the brunette inside.

 

Warmth immediately washed over her body as she clumsily closed the door without dropping anything. Peering around the room she didn’t see the artist so she set the food on top of the only empty shelf under the front window and stripped off her puffy coat and mittens and left them on the hooks by the door next to Carmilla’s.

 

She slowly walked into the studio in search for her broody little artist, but a painting in the corner of the room caught her attention. It was the only canvas standing on an easel and there was still wet paint smeared across the surface as it glistened in the low light.

 

Laura stepped towards it to get a closer look, but gasped when she heard a snap from underneath her boot. She slowly lifted her foot to see a paintbrush with a now broken wooden handle that had been left on the floor. She internally groaned at the fact that she was going to have to explain to Carmilla that she had accidentally broken it when she was snooping.

 

Her eyes moved back to the painting and she instantly felt deeply disturbed at the mess in front of her. The canvas was completely red with violent strokes of color and splatter that had dripped onto the floor. It brought her back to the scene at the bank and suddenly everything made sense. This went far deeper than a simple abstract painting. Her heart sank at the possibility that Carmilla was struggling more than she was letting on, and she didn’t say anything. Why didn’t she say anything?

 

As she examined it closer, she could see a handprint that dragged down the center of the painting. The imagery of the artist’s frustrations was enough to send shivers down her spine as she could almost feel the desperation seeping out of it and into her mind.

 

Laura’s head snapped away from the canvas when she heard a faucet turn on from somewhere deeper into the studio. She heard running water for a few minutes before it turned off with a squeak, and the faint sound of footsteps crept closer towards her from the back.

 

The blonde quickly backpedaled into the center of the room to make it appear like she hadn’t been sneaking around by the time the brunette rounded the corner from the back hallway.

 

Laura could already tell something was very wrong by the way the brunette hunched her shoulders forward like she was caving in on herself. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks still glistened from tears past shed. The blonde had to hold herself back from just launching herself at the woman because she still hadn’t made her presence known yet. The last thing she wanted to do was accidentally frighten her.

 

“Hey baby,” Laura quietly spoke into the room. She had tried her best not to startle the brunette, but her attempts were all in vain.

 

Carmilla whipped her head up in shock at the surprise intrusion. She hadn’t planned on calling Laura until awhile later when she could pull herself together a little more. She could still feel the phantom pain pulse through her shoulder at the memories that she had drudged up during her episode.

 

“Hey cupcake. What are you doing here?” The brunette quickly wiped her face off with her right sleeve and attempted to put a smile on her lips that couldn’t quite reach her eyes.

 

“You hadn’t called me yet, so I thought I would come here to check up on you.” Laura slowly walked over to the woman and took her right hand into both of hers, gently playing with her fingers. “I also brought you your favorite takeout, and something special that I think you’ll like from Betty’s bakery.” Laura saw a small smile spread across the brunette’s face, but this time she could also see a flicker of it in her eyes.

 

“Thank you. That was very sweet of you,” Carmilla said as she brought Laura hand up to her lips so that she could leave a light kiss on her palm. “I really appreciate it.”

 

Carmilla could feel her eyes prickle so she quickly turned her head to avoid Laura from seeing her cry for a second time that day. Before she could even step out of Laura’s reach, she felt a warm hand lightly grip her jaw to turn her face towards the other woman.

 

The way Laura was looking at her took her breath away as she stared into the blonde’s twinkling honey eyes that were filled with adoration and understanding.

 

“Don’t do that. Don’t hide from me,” Laura soothingly whispered as she rested her forehead against the other woman’s. She brought their lips together, but only left them there for a second before pulling away.

 

“You never have to feel like you need to keep anything from me. I’ll always be here for you no matter what going through that head of yours,” Laura said as she tapped the brunette’s forehead. “I promise you that.”

 

Carmilla looked for any clues of dishonesty etched into the blonde’s face, but all she could see was sincerity. She had never heard those words before and she couldn’t help the joyful sob that broke from her throat as she lunged at Laura.

 

The smaller woman stumbled back a few steps after being caught off balance, but her arms were able to latch onto the brunette’s neck before she took them both out.

 

Carmilla’s lips were hot and wet against hers as she kissed her with a fiery passion. It felt demanding and desperate, but so fucking good.

 

Laura gripped the back of her neck to pull her even closer and deepen the kiss, while the brunette wrapped her right arm tightly around the other woman’s waist to secure their bodies together. Carmilla felt like fire, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care if she burned them right down to the ground.

 

Laura wanted to feel their bodies mold together as one, but every time she would pull Carmilla closer, her sling clip would awkwardly poke her in the boob. She leaned back to look at the contraption in slight aggravation, but giggled when the brunette blindly chased her lips to close the distance.

 

“Can I take this off?” Laura pulled at the sling strap to get the other woman’s attention.

 

Carmilla quickly nodded before the blonde gently took it off of her. She flexed her arm a few times and was pleased to find that it wasn’t as sore as she had expected it to be. The artist turned her head back up with a mischievous grin and used both of her hands to pull Laura back into her.

 

This time their bodies fit comfortably together as they held each other close. Carmilla brought her lips to Laura’s neck and left a few open mouth kisses down her throat. Her action had its desired affect as Laura let out a strangled groan as she held Carmilla in place.

 

Carmilla smirked as the woman’s grip on her hair grew tighter once she found the sensitive spot below the girl’s ear that drove her crazy. Her white teeth scraped over the blonde’s pulse point which caused another indecent noise to leak out of the woman’s throat.

 

Carmilla would be lying if she said she wasn’t happy to find out that Laura tended to be vocal during these intimate interactions.

 

“Carm?” Laura panted out as Carmilla focused on paying her back for the visible hickeys the blonde had left on her the other day.

 

“Mmhhh?” Carmilla hummed against the woman’s throat as she sucked a few dark marks into the soft skin.

 

“Can we move this… uhhmm… to somewhere a little more comfortable?” Laura was desperately trying to contain her hormones, but she didn’t just want Carmilla, she needed her.

 

Carmilla looked up at the girl’s face and noticed the beautiful blush that covered her cheeks and the part of her chest that she could see above her shirt. She could almost feel the heat radiating off of her as she rubbed her cheek onto Laura’s as if marking her territory.

 

Saving her the embarrassment, Carmilla took Laura’s hand and led her over to the spiral staircase that went up to her open second level loft that happened to have her very comfy queen size bed. She had built this tiny bedroom into the studio for the nights she stayed up painting and didn’t have the energy to go back to her apartment. It was cozy and lit up with the same string lights that she had downstairs so she really didn’t mind staying there for the night.

 

Once they got to the second floor, they both stopped at foot of the bed and faced each other. Carmilla had taken a step back in order to process what was really happening here. She wanted to be sure of what Laura wanted before she started anything that Laura could regret.

 

Laura sensed the woman’s hesitance as she watched Carmilla run her hands up and down her thighs as she waited for her to make the first move.

 

She smiled at how adorable the brunette was when she was nervous and reached down for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head with ease. She then, without looking up at Carmilla, unbuttoned her pants and let them pool at her feet before kicking them over to the side.

 

Laura straightened up and caught her beautiful artist gawking at her newly exposed skin. She had always been confident in her body, but she couldn’t deny the rush of relief the brunette’s reaction gave her. She could see Carmilla’s hands clenching and unclenching as she fought the urge to touch her.

 

Carmilla on the other hand couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She had always thought Laura was stunning, but seeing her like this had practically convinced her that she was a goddess of some sort.

 

Laura’s blonde hair cascaded over her bare shoulders as it reflected the warm glow of the lights twinkling above her. Everything about her was smooth and toned. Carmilla’s attention was immediately drawn to the woman’s exquisite abs as they flexed under the slight draft that breathed across her skin from the overhead air vent.

 

The blonde was wearing a simple white bra with matching panties that were white with little black kittens all over them. Carmilla would have never guessed it before, but she had never found anything so sexy in her life. Her hands twitched in anticipation as the thought of running them all over her soft skin filtered through her mind.

 

“Your turn,” Laura giggled as Carmilla couldn’t tear her eyes off of her.

 

Carmilla slowly stripped herself down to her lacy black bra and blue panties. She thanked whatever deity was out there that she ran out of her normal undergarments so she had just worn a fancier pair instead of just doing her laundry.

 

Although she had never felt self conscious about her appearance, Carmilla suddenly felt very exposed under Laura’s hungry eyes and moved to put her arms around her stomach in an effort to cover herself.  Before she could even secure her arms around her middle, Laura was there gently taking her arms and looping them around her neck.

 

“You are absolutely breathtaking,” Laura said as she walked Carmilla backwards towards the bed.

 

As soon as the back of Carmilla’s knees hit the edge, she was gently shoved, and her back hit the cool surface of the sheets with a soft thud. 

 

Laura watched as the brunette backed up towards the center with a beautiful smile gracing her lips. She quickly climbed in after her and ended up straddling one of her thighs with her hands supporting her weight on either side of Carmilla’s head. Their bodies were close, but not close enough to touch.

 

“I could say the same thing about you, cutie,” Carmilla smiled up at the girl hovering above her as she ran her hands up and down the woman’s defined abs that twitched every time she hit a particularly sensitive spot.

 

Laura was about to lean down to capture her lips, but was stopped when she saw a strange look cross the brunette’s face as pale hands stilled on her bare skin. The woman’s arched eyebrows were pulled together, and her eyes held a far off quality to them.

 

“What’s the matter Carm?” Laura asked with concern lacing her voice as she brought a hand up to trace her jawline.

 

“Nothing,” Carmilla immediately replied, but after a glare from the blonde above her she continued. “Laura you are so special to me, and I don’t want you to do this because you think it will make me happy. I need you to be sure. Is this really what you want?” Carmilla quietly voiced her concerns into the space between them as Laura’s gentle touch soothed her nerves.

 

“Babe, I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life.” Laura looked at her with utter sincerity before staring directly into her dark eyes. She leant over and let her lips linger on the skin above her heart. “Carmilla Karnstein, I want you.” Her voice was muffled into Carmilla’s skin, but the message was loud and clear.

 

And with that, Carmilla pulled the woman completely on top of her, and they both gasped as their bodies melted into one another. As soon as their lips locked, Carmilla reached to the back of Laura’s bra and easily unsnapped the clasp causing the straps to slip down her shoulders.

 

Laura smiled at the brunette’s eagerness and sat up a little so she could make a show of taking off the obstructing undergarment. She could see the artist’s pupils dilate as she licked her lips seductively.

 

The brunette’s dark eyes blinked back up to her face with a warm smile before leaning forward and attaching her lips to her pink nipple.

 

Laura caressed the nape of the woman’s neck as she could feel her wet tongue making circles around her already hard bud. She threaded her fingers through soft raven hair as she pulled her even closer to her chest.

 

Carmilla smiled into her breast before switching to the other one and giving it a slight nip before sucking it into her warm mouth. She felt pleasure course through her body as Laura moaned out her name in pure bliss. She moved her lips to the valley of Laura’s chest, but was pushed back into the pillows with gentle but firm hands.

 

Laura smiled at her as she settled her body back onto the beautifully pale one beneath her. She pushed her thigh up against Carmilla’s center and gasped at how wet the woman was. Her thigh slid against her arousal and only added the slickness building between her own.

 

Carmilla automatically ground down onto Laura’s muscular thigh that was giving her exquisite pressure as it slowly pressed into her aching core. Whenever the blonde’s thigh would move away, her hips would seek it out again and press harder against her.

 

As Camilla panted into the blonde’s neck as she found a steady rhythm, Laura’s hands traveled down the brunette’s body until she could grip her hips into her hands. They fit perfectly as she guided Carmilla’s hips as she moved against her. She could feel the woman picking up speed so she decided to take things a little further.

 

The blonde hooked her thumbs into Carmilla’s silky blue panties and slowly slid them down, giving the woman enough time to stop her if she didn’t want things to go any further.

 

Carmilla appreciated the gesture, she really did, but her patience at this point was nonexistent. She quickly kicked off her panties and hastily unsnapped her bra before chucking it off the loft. She didn’t even give the blonde a second to admire her naked form before she took Laura’s hand and placed it on her stomach.

 

“You are so sexy,” Laura whispered into the woman’s ear as she slowly guided her hand to where Carmilla needed her most. She could feel the woman’s abs quiver under her touch as she skimmed her nails over her hip bones before dipping them lower. Laura moaned at the wetness she found there as her fingers circled around Carmilla’s throbbing clit.

 

Carmilla swallowed what would have been a lewd moan, but she couldn’t help how her hips bucked into the blonde’s hand as she sped up her ministrations. She could feel a warmth building in her lower abdomen as she came closer to her release.

 

“Mmmmmhhhhh… I need more,” Carmilla gasped out as she got closer and closer to her impending orgasm.

 

Laura watched the brunette’s reaction as she sunk one finger into her glistening opening. She could hear Carmilla’s breath hitch and after a few steady strokes she added another finger easily.

 

“So good… Harder baby,” Carmilla tried to get out as she felt the stretch of Laura adding another finger.

 

Laura picked up her speed and swiped the pad of her thumb across the brunette’s clit every few strokes. The brunette’s body arched up into her as she gave a final curve of her fingers on just the right spot.

 

Carmilla came with a shuddering groan as her body was racked with the aftershocks of her orgasm. She could feel Laura’s fingers slow inside of her as she tried to gently bring her down. Her body collapsed back onto the bed as her face broke into a satisfied smirk.

 

Laura left a passionate kiss onto her lips before bringing her hand that was still wet with Carmilla’s arousal up to her mouth. She sucked the fingers into her mouth as she moaned at the taste of her gorgeous artist that lingered on her tongue.

 

Carmilla watched with rapt attention before gripping the blonde’s waist and rolling them over. She looked at her with a mischievous grin as she pressed into the woman beneath her.

 

“Your turn!”

 

* * *

 

 

After several rounds of absolutely mind blowing sex and some cold take out, the two women cuddled up in each other’s arms as they drifted in and out of consciousness in their hazy state of bliss.

 

Laura lay on the brunette’s chest as Carmilla carded her fingers through her slightly tangled post-sex hair. She had wanted to just enjoy the peace and quiet, but a question was nagging at the back of her mind.

 

“Hey Laura?”

 

“Hmmm?” Laura sleepily replied from her comfy spot nuzzled against Carmilla’s breasts.

 

“What are we?” Carmilla looked down at the girl as she seemed to have finally caught her attention.

 

“What do you mean?” Laura asked with clear confusion etched into her features.

 

“I know we’re Carmilla and Laura, but like…what are we to each other?” Carmilla looked away from Laura’s watchful eyes as she felt a blush spread across her cheeks. She felt soft fingers against her cheek as she looked back towards the woman.

 

“Carmilla Karnstein, will you be my girlfriend?” Laura asked with a cheeky grin aimed towards the brunette.

 

**“I thought you’d never ask.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for how late this is!! College is really kicking my ass, but I promise not to give this story up. Feel free to let me know what you thought in the comments below;)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, long time no see! Life has really been kicking my ass lately, but I hope this longer than usual chapter makes up for my absence!

Carmilla was drawn from her deep slumber as the feeling of small pinpricks erupted all over her left arm like tiny needles barely dipping beneath the surface of her skin. She slowly stirred awake as she became more aware of the strange sensation of both acute pain and numbness that was enveloping the entirety of her arm.

 

She tried tugging it closer to her body, but something heavy laid on top of it and kept it from budging. Her body stilled as the numbness started to subside a little, but it was quickly taken over as the heavy mass atop her limb shifted causing sheer pain to migrate up her arm.

 

Carmilla grunted out her discomfort, but stopped all movement in an effort to calm her pain receptors which seemed to be trigger happy. The brunette slowly peeked open her eyes and was met with the sight of a very naked Laura sprawled out on her stomach, and subsequently Carmilla’s arm.

 

A dopey smile spread across the artist’s face as she looked at the mass of tangled blonde hair that lay in every which direction and reflected some of the warm sunlight that streamed through the small second floor window at the head of the bed.

 

Carmilla could feel her body buzz with the leftover feelings from last night. Laura’s naked body pressed against hers, hands and mouths in the most intimate of places, the feeling of the blonde’s fingers as she ever so skillfully coaxed her into oblivion, and Laura asking her to be her girlfriend. _Her girlfriend._

Carmilla brought her free hand up to brush away some of the golden locks that curtained across the smaller woman’s face. She stilled her movements as the blonde nuzzled her face against her warm palm.

 

Laura settled back into the pillows with half of her face exposed to the light as Carmilla let her gaze linger on her soft features. Not a wrinkle present in the space between her brows, which hold so much tension. All of that anxiety seemed to have just disappeared as she lay there unaffected by the chaotic world that swirled around their little place of solitude.

 

Carmilla grimaced as she carefully pulled her limp arm from under the sleeping woman, and was momentarily distracted as her skin slid across the smooth surface of Laura’s stomach. How she wished her hand could feel every inch of her delicate skin, but the numbness left her with only her memory to fill in the gaps.

 

Once her arm was finally free, the brunette shook the limp arm that resembled a flailing noodle and swore under her breath as her severe discomfort made a reappearance. Warmth spread through her arm as she felt blood begin to flow through it again causing the pain to disperse.

 

She glanced back at the sleeping woman, and just stared at the indescribable beauty that she now had the honor of calling hers. Her hand reached out once more, but abruptly stopped as a thought crossed her mind.

 

The brunette quietly moved off of the bed and grabbed one of her spare painting button ups that was hanging off a coffee table in the opposite corner of the loft. The jean button-up was splattered with ever color of paint imaginable and did little to hide the naked body beneath, but it would have to do.

 

As quietly as she could, she padded downstairs to grab a clean medium-sized canvas and her portable easel to bring back up and set up in front of the bed. Once she had everything in place, she threw her hair up into a messy bun and rolled up her sleeves enough to paint comfortably.

 

She had to stifle a laugh when Laura started to make these adorable little half snores as her arm moved around the bed in search for her. The blonde’s body relaxed after her arm wrapped around Carmilla’s pillow. The artist had never understood cuddling before, but her clingy little girlfriend made it impossible to not find the joy in it.

 

Carmilla looked at the blank canvas in front of her and the vision of her creation blossomed in her mind without even having to move a finger. She confidently picked up her first color with the tip of her brush and the moment it touched the canvas, her creativity bled onto the surface.

 

Beautiful curves and smooth lines gliding onto the canvas as the artist’s creative energy became something more tangible. A warm glow emanated from the unfinished image and only seemed to grow brighter with each stroke of Carmilla’s hand. She couldn’t help but feel like she was bathing it in sunshine as the yellows and oranges blended into perfection.

 

She painted every freckle that graced the woman’s back, and each lock of hair that extended every which way from her head. She even included the trail of blemishes down the naked woman’s bare back that was left by none other than her lips not long ago. As she painted, it became more clear that she was painting less of an image and more of a feeling. The feeling of Laura’s sun beams as they touched her skin and left a warmth within her that penetrated every layer.

 

She looked back to her subject and although Laura was naked, the painting kept her modest by including the sheets that hung low on her waist and lay tangled up with her legs. Her chest remained hidden as it pressed against the mattress, leaving the smooth skin of her back exposed.

 

Carmilla looked back and forth from her finished painting and the true masterpiece in her bed, and let out a contented sigh. She wasn’t sure how long she had been painting, but she really didn’t care as she admired the work in front of her.

 

With one last stroke of her brush the painting was finished and Camilla’s eyes began to water as she looked at the woman who had stolen the sacred position of her muse. She had yet to think of a time when she had felt so proud of her art. This piece had emotions stained right into the canvas, but it felt so different from anything she had ever created.

 

She quietly left the room to hide the canvas downstairs to dry and washed all her brushes and palate to get rid of the evidence. She wasn’t actually sure she was ready to confront what she knew the painting meant, so she decided to hide it from Laura until she felt like it was the right time.

 

The brunette threw her dirty smock back into the corner before stealthily crawling her way into bed and pressing her bare front against Laura’s back. She couldn’t wait any longer to get her hands on her.

 

Carmilla trailed her fingers up and down the woman’s sides as she gently pulled her from sleep. She bent her head down to leave kisses anywhere her lips could reach. Her emotions were overflowing and she just couldn’t contain herself any longer.

 

“Mhhhmmmmmm,” Laura hummed out at the feeling of Carmilla’s hands on her skin and warm lips on the back of her neck.

 

“Good morning beautiful,” Carmilla husked out as she scraped her teeth across the shell of the blonde’s ear. She could feel Laura squirm beneath her as she moved her lips down and sucked another hickey into the soft skin between her shoulder blades. Carmilla had never been one for marking her partners, but with Laura it was different. Everything was different.

 

She sighed contently as she felt Laura’s body arch into her touch as her hands traveled across taught skin. Their bodies buzzed with electricity as they created friction that left sparks running through their veins.

 

“Morning Carm,” Laura mumbled into the pillows before turning in the brunette’s arms to face the brunette with a sleepy smile on her face.

 

Carmilla leaned down and left a sweet kiss on waiting lips as a particularly groggy Laura tried to pull her even closer with grabby hands that latched onto her bare hips.

 

“How’d you sleep?” Carmilla asked as she brushed a stray hair off of the blonde’s cheek and let her fingers linger there as her thumb swiped back and forth on her cheek bone.

 

“Better now that you’re back here with me. Where did you go? I was getting cold,” Laura replied as stared at the contours of Carmilla’s face as the sunlight cast soft shadows across it.

 

“Oh, I just had to use the bathroom,” the artist quickly replied as she did her best to avoid Laura’s honey brown eyes as they tried to search her own.

 

Laura smiled as she saw something smeared across the underside of the brunette’s jaw. She reached up with her hand and laughed after wiping it off with her finger.

 

**_Yellow paint._ **

 

* * *

 

 

“Carmilla, can you come here for a second please?”

 

Carmilla finished tugging on a pair of sweatpants that she had left at her studio awhile back and headed down to where Laura was calling her from.

 

“Cupcake, where are you? I don’t…” Carmilla stopped dead in her tracks from the sight in front of her.

 

Laura had clearly been snooping around the ground floor when she had been getting ready upstairs, and found an interesting discovery. In her hands was a large black canvas that had been covering one of her most prized possessions, her motorcycle.

 

“Care to explain why you have this death trap stored away in your art studio?” Laura looked at her expectantly as she tapped her bare foot on the hard wood floors. She looked pissed off, but the brunette couldn’t really place why.

 

Carmilla slowly approached the girl and answered with a cautious lilt to her voice.

 

“It’s not a death trap, and honestly I haven’t used it in a long time. Besides, I thought you’d find it kind of hot,” Carmilla tried to distract the clearly annoyed woman by getting all up in her space. “I could maybe show you how to ride it sometime if you want.”

 

Laura took in a shaky breath as she tried to stand her ground on the subject. She knew exactly what the brunette was doing, but she couldn’t seem to find the words she was looking for. She could feel Carmilla walk behind her a take a hold of her hips, playing with the sliver of exposed skin she found there.

 

“I could let you take it for a spin, and I’ll be right behind you the whole time with my arms wrapped around you tight,” Carmilla continued as she tightened her hold on the practically panting blonde. “Who knows, maybe if you do well I might just have to reward you.”

 

Carmilla’s hands started to move lower on the blonde’s abdomen and dip beneath the waistband of her sweatpants. Laura responded immediately to the touch, but jumped out of Carmilla’s hold to face the now pouting brunette.

 

“Slow down there lady killer. We’re not done talking about this!” Laura pointed her finger at the motorcycle, but kept her distance from the brunette. “This is important and I’m not going to let you distract me.”

 

“Are you really mad at me?” Carmilla quietly asked as she looked at the mixture of anger and fear concocted on the other woman’s face.

 

“Baby no… I just,” Laura stuttered as she tried to grasp at what she was feeling. She walked back over to the brunette and took her hands in hers. “I’m sorry. I just saw the motorcycle and got scared of the thought of you riding it and of… of you getting hurt.” She finished the last part in a whisper and let it hang in the air.

 

Carmilla looked up at the blonde who had a faraway look on her face as she stared at her hands that had a white knuckle grip on her own.

 

“Do I think you would look insanely hot? Yes, but I also know how dangerous those things are and… and I can’t lose you. N…Not again.” Laura sputtered out as her hands left Carmilla’s to catch the tears that streamed down her face at the admission.

 

Carmilla quickly replaced the blonde’s hands with hers and gently stoked her cheeks as the tears continued to fall. The brunette was at a complete loss of words as she looked at the beautiful woman in front of her. She wasn’t used to someone truly caring about her well being so this came as a shock. She pulled Laura to her chest and soothingly whispered into her hair.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset. And if it makes you feel any better I don’t think I’m going to be riding it any time soon,” Carmilla chuckled shrugged her left shoulder.

 

Laura gripped the brunette tighter and pressed her face further into the artist’s neck. She was taking slow breaths and letting the brunette’s scent completely consume her.

 

Carmilla smiled down at the woman affectionately. Staring at the woman in her arms brought a realization to the forefront of her mind. Her motorcycle used to be her most prized possession, and now she knew that if Laura really wanted her to, she would give it up in a second. She now had a new source of happiness and it was currently snuggled up against her body.

 

They continued to hold each other until the brunette could feel the tears start to subside. Before pulling away she breathed in the scent of lilacs once more that set her mind at ease. She slowly moved her face back and kissed each of Laura’s tear stained cheeks that were blotchy with emotion.

 

“How about I take you to breakfast and we can stuff our faces with as much greasy food as we can get our hands on?” Carmilla asked in hopes of turning their day around.

 

“That sounds good Carm,” Laura muffled into the artist’s pale neck where she had burrowed herself once again. “Especially since we have our first yoga session tomorrow. You’re going to need all the energy you can get!”

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla started to get nervous as she made her way up to the second floor of the yoga studio. She looked down at her black tank top and grey baggy sweatpants as she ran her clammy palms over the material. Laura had told her to dress comfy and meet her at the studio that morning, so she just grabbed whatever she felt was appropriate and headed out to meet her new “yoga instructor.”

 

She reached the landing and was pleased to find that the main check in area of the studio was quite warm and welcoming. A single curved desk stood in front of the large bay windows in the back. The rest of the waiting area had large colorful couches and chairs lining the sides of the room.

 

The area was empty and quiet as she paced around and waited for the blonde to show up. She tried to sit down in one of the orange chairs by the door, but her foot started to dance impatiently as the minutes passed. The longer she waited, the more her nerves started to get the best of her. She could talk a big game about her hypothetical skills, but she was nowhere near proficient at yoga as she had led the blonde to believe. Her pride was the only thing keeping her from running back out the front door.

 

She jumped in her seat as a text came in from Laura.

 

Cupcake (12:15pm): Hey once you get here you can just come into studio 1. See you soon babe;)

 

Carmilla reread the text and slowly crept over to the glass door marked with a script 1. She peered into the room and caught a glimpse of blonde hair as Laura went over to the back corner of the room to grab two mats.

 

Carmilla took in her surroundings in awe and was impressed by the atmosphere that the building gave off. The studio had beautiful wooden floors that reflected some of the natural light streaming through the wall of windows. The glass had a slight tint to it, which made sense because she could never see in from outside. (Carmilla would know this because she had tried to catch a glimpse of the beautiful blonde…from every angle on the street.)

 

Besides the warm lighting and large fans hanging from the ceiling, there really wasn’t much else in the room. Dozens of multicolored rolled mats lined the back wall, and from her spot in the doorway she could see that the entire front wall was a mirror that gave the illusion that the room was larger than it actually was.

 

The brunette laughed as she saw Laura pick up the only black mat that was clearly meant for her and a purple one for herself. The noise started Laura as she swung around to see Carmilla staring back at her from the doorway.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you cutie. I was just too busy enjoying the view,” Carmilla said as she raked her eyes over her beautiful girlfriend.

 

Laura was wearing a back sports bra and skin-tight yoga pants that were covered in a colorful purple galaxy print. Her hair was up in a high pony tail and her solid abs flexed as she made her way over to the artist who couldn’t help but gawk at the gorgeous woman before her.

 

“I’m glad you’re liking my studio,” Laura said as she wrapped her muscular arms around the brunette’s neck and pulled her into a slow kiss that the brunette couldn’t help but melt into.

 

Carmilla hummed her approval as she slid her hands around Laura’s waist. As the kiss started to heat up, she slowly moved her hands lower from the blonde’s hips to her ass and gave it a good squeeze.

 

Laura jumped back and playfully glared at the smug brunette, but she couldn’t help the smile that twitched at the corner of her lips.

 

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Your ass is out of this world.”

 

Laura looked down at her galaxy pants and dramatically rolled her eyes at the giddy artist who was currently making snorting sounds as she failed at suppressing her case of the giggles.

 

“Haha very funny,” Laura said as she picked up a bag that she had placed by the door earlier and threw it into the brunette’s hands. “Now go put these on so we can start your session.”

 

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Carmilla gestured to what she thought was her appropriate wardrobe, but Laura just stared back at her with a blank expression and pointed towards the bathroom.

 

Carmilla looked at her skeptically, but went into the bathroom nonetheless to change into what she was told. She could hear laughing from outside the door, but she had just assumed it was caused by her exemplary pick up line. That was until she looked into the bag.

 

All she pulled out was a pair of black spandex shorts and a red Nike sports bra. Carmilla turned the bag upside down and shook it in hopes that she had missed something. Finding nothing else, she just stared at the garments as if they were going to magically grow into something with a little more coverage.

 

She grumbled as she stripped from her warm comfy clothes and into her ‘yoga outfit.’ Simple tasks like changing were becoming easier as her shoulder continued in its healing process. She would never tell Dr. Vordenburg this, but his creepy hands actually did wonders on the scar tissue and now her movement felt significantly more fluid. (Or it could have been the sex.)

 

She stepped in front of the full length mirror that hung from the door and let out an exasperated sigh. Her entire torso as well as the majority of her legs and arms were on full display. Her tiny black shorts left little to the imagination as they clung tightly to the curve of her ass and upper thighs. Her sports bra was actually quite supportive, but she could tell that it would do little to cover any changes if so much as a draft blew across her skin.

 

She threw her curls up into a messy bun and tucked the clothes that she came in back into the bag Laura had ever so kindly provided her. She pushed down any feelings of self doubt and strolled confidently back into the studio where Laura was patiently waiting for her.

 

“I know I’m no yoga expert, but I think you forgot to give me a few more pieces of clothing.” Carmilla’s eyes darted to the door to see if she was giving anyone else a show, but was pleased to notice that the blonde had closed the door and drawn the curtains over the glass to give them some privacy.

 

“Nope this is everything! I just wanted to make sure that I could see every part of you,” Laura said, but immediately flushed once she heard how it sounded. “I mean… so I can see if you’re doing the poses right.”

 

Carmilla let out a scoff, but was cut off after she noticed the way Laura was staring at her body hungrily with a piercing gaze that seemed to greedily take in every inch of her exposed skin. She felt a shiver wrack through up her spine, and cursed herself at the feeling of her nipples pressing against the thin fabric of her bra.

 

Laura watched as Carmilla shyly walked towards her with her arms covering her torso. She held out her hands for the brunette to take and pulled her into her body and wrapped her arms securely around her back.

 

“I might have also wanted to get some enjoyment out of this too,” Laura cooed into her ear as she left kisses along her throat. She smiled when she felt Carmilla’s throat vibrate with an adorable giggle. The blonde brought her face back up to Carmilla’s and left a sweet kiss on her smiling lips.

 

Carmilla rested her forehead against her girlfriend’s and just enjoyed the feeling of being in her protective arms that rubbed up and down the soft skin of her back.

 

“Okay babe, we have to get going. My class starts in a little over an hour and we have a lot of work to do,” Laura reluctantly said after a few long moments. She left go of Carmilla, but took her hand and led her over to the mats she had already set up.

 

“Okay before we start I really want you to focus on your energy and how it feels as it flows through your body. Yoga is all about the connection between your physical body and your spiritual mind. Along with progressing in your physical therapy, I also want you to connect with your chakra and try to get that full body and mind experience.”

 

Carmilla looked like a deer in headlights as the blonde continued to ramble on about the spiritual benefits of yoga. She tried really hard to listen, but every time Laura lifted her arms dramatically as she talked, her focus returned to her defined shoulders. With every lift of her arms, the muscles would shift and create shadows that highlighted her toned physique.

 

“Babe?” Laura asked with a raised eyebrow as the brunette was brought back to reality.

 

“What? I mean yes. Feel my body and mind. Got it!” Carmilla animatedly responded as if she had heard a single word that came out of the blonde’s mouth in the last five minutes.

 

Laura laughed at the clearly frazzled brunette, but decided to spare her because she really didn’t want to have to explain everything all over again. She could just try and coach her along the way.

 

“Close enough,” Laura said as she stepped onto her mat and gestured for the blushing brunette to do the same. “Okay we’re going to start with a few tadasanas to get your blood flowing and warm your body up a little so you don’t pull anything.”

 

“I can think of a few other things that would get us pretty warm,” Carmilla mumbled, but quickly snapped her jaw shut as Laura’s face turned towards her with a vibrant blush tinging her cheeks.

 

A pleased smile spread across Laura’s face at Carmilla’s uncharacteristically obedient behavior. She got into position and showed Carmilla the sequence before telling her to try the same.

 

Laura watched with amusement as the woman followed her instructions. She noticed that the artist’s form was god awful, but she wasn’t doing anything that would hurt her so she decided to let it go for now and try to just get the basics down. The blonde thought that maybe after today she could try to get Carmilla to do some yoga with her in their apartment to keep up with her routine. She couldn’t decide if it was a really bad idea or a really good one.

 

Carmilla could feel the blonde’s eyes watching her every move, but she remained focused on the task a hand so she could just get this over with and get Laura under her. Carmilla lifted her arms up towards the sky for a third time and a loud pop resonated through the room, startling the brunette which in turn caused her to lose her balance and fall flat on her ass.

 

“What the frilly hell was that?” Laura asked alarmed as she looked Carmilla up and down for injuries. Her hands hovered over Carmilla’s body unsure of where to touch.

 

“I think it was my chakra,” the broody gay said as she lowered herself back down into corpse pose.

 

“Oh no you don’t!” Laura pulled the brunette back into standing position and ignored how smooth her skin felt against her hands. “We still have a good 40 minutes left before I let you go. Now get back into position.”

 

Carmilla continued to grumble, but was able to get through a decent amount of poses without any further problems. She could feel a thin layer of sweat begin to build on her lower back and neck, but other than that she was doing pretty good, or so she thought.

 

“Okay now since I have you all loosened up I think it’s time we do a few poses to help with your arm and shoulder strength. Don’t worry, I discussed everything with Dr. Vordenberg and you shouldn’t have any issues with this.” Laura kneeled down onto the mat on all fours and turned her head back up so she could look at Carmilla.

 

“This one is called downward dog, and it will put a bit more pressure on your arm than your used to so just take it slow. I’ll show you what it looks like and then I want you to give it a try.”

 

Carmilla watched as the blonde stayed on all fours, but lifted her ass high into the air on full display. The artist watched the muscles in Laura’s back and legs shift as she pedaled her feet a little to get more comfortable in the pose. The brunette had to reel her thoughts in as her mind flashed through everything she would love to do with Laura in that pose.

 

“Carm? Hello. Are you even listening to me?” Laura huffed out as she lowered herself back down onto the mat and turned towards the silent brunette. Her eyes pulled together in confusion at the distant look on the brunette’s face. Laura stood up and snapped her fingers a few times to pull the the woman out of her trance.

 

“Sorry, what? I didn’t catch that.” Carmilla hastily spewed out as she tried to look anywhere besides Laura’s accusatory eyes.

 

“I can see that,” Laura said as she tucked a loose curl behind Carmilla’s ear causing the woman to look back towards her. “I said do you want to try it?”

 

Their eyes locked and Laura could see Carmilla’s pink tongue dart out to wet her lips before she slowly started to move in. The blonde had half a mind to let her, but she wasn’t going to prioritize her temptations over Carmilla’s recovery. A second before their lips met Laura side-stepped out of the way and retreated back over to her mat.

 

“Nope. Yoga now, smooching later.”

 

Carmilla dramatically clutched her chest and moved down onto her mat while making sure to sigh extra loudly for Laura’s amusement. She wanted to make sure her frustrations wouldn’t go unnoticed.

 

“I don’t know why I have to do this when there are so many better things we could be doing,” Carmilla mumbled as she got herself into what she had assumed was the right position.

 

“Aww is my grumpy artist upset that I didn’t give her a kiss?” Laura taunted as she stepped closer to Carmilla and put her hands onto her back to slightly adjust her position. The brunette was like putty in her hands as she left them on her body to “stabilize her.”

 

Carmilla ignored the burning in her shoulder as she held the pose so that she could feel Laura’s hands on her body a little longer. _(Totally not pathetic at all.)_ She could feel the smaller woman’s sturdy hands linger on her thighs that had begun to quiver in exhaustion.

 

The brunette was about to give up and call defeat when a brilliant idea crossed her mind. She peaked between her legs to see Laura’s attention transfixed on the seam of her spandex as the blonde kept her hands steady on her hips while she hovered over her from behind. Carmilla could feel warmth flood her stomach as she thought about how bad she just wanted Laura to…

 

Without warning, Carmilla collapsed down to the mat as she let out a sharp yelp that pierced the silent room. The brunette could feel Laura’s strong arms quickly wrap around her before she could fully hit the floor, and flipped her over to lie her on her back so she could straddle her hips to get a better look.

 

“Oh my god Carm! I’m so sorry! I got a little distracted and I should have realized your arm was getting tired,” Laura spewed out as she started to rub small circles into the scar tissue to try and diffuse any of the stress the position had just put it in.

 

While Laura was busy attending to her arm, Carmilla’s face broke out into a huge shit eating grin that managed to catch the blonde’s attention.

 

“Why are you smiling? You literally just… Oomph!” Laura huffed out as Carmilla grabbed her by the waist and flipped them over to pin her beneath her body, effectively cutting off whatever she was going to say.

 

“I forgive you,” Carmilla simply said as she started to leave light kisses on Laura’s exposed collar bones. She smiled against the tender skin as she heard the blonde let out a whimper that revealed just how turned on she already was.

 

“You did that on p-purpose didn’t you?” Laura accused more than questioned.

 

“Maybe I did. What are you going to do about it?” Carmilla teased, but didn’t miss the smaller woman’s slight stutter. Laura had yet to stop her so she decided to up her efforts a little.

 

Carmilla nipped a trail up the column of the blonde’s throat and turned her attention to Laura’s face that looked absolutely blissed out. Carmilla smiled at the knowledge that Laura had been hiding her sexual frustrations just as much as she had, and now she had every intention to solve that little problem.

 

“Absolutely nothing,” Laura finally replied after realizing Carmilla’s lips had stopped their attack. She brought both her hands up and pulled the brunette into a searing kiss that left both of them aching for more.

 

Carmilla’s hands slowly traveled down Laura’s body, leaving goose bumps in their wake as they made their way down her stomach. She lowered herself down to attach her lips to the exposed skin.

 

Laura’s back arched off the mat as Carmilla meticulously marked a path down her quivering abdomen, paying close attention to the sensitive spots at the top of her ribs. The blonde’s whole body felt like a bow string pulled tight, just waiting to let go.

 

Carmilla smiled into the woman’s skin when she felt Laura not-so-subtly bucking her hips against her in search for any kind of contact. She suggestively lowered her right hand and stroked the blonde over her thin yoga pants to rile her up even further.

 

Laura let out a high pitched whine as the brunette kept her pace slow and above the fabric. After trying and failing to get the woman to move faster, Laura lifted her hips off the ground with Carmilla still on her and slid her pants and thong down to her ankles in one go. Carmilla restricted her from getting them off completely, but the artist smiled and helped her out without hesitation.

 

Carmilla returned to her position of hovering over Laura while the blonde squirmed and hooked her legs around Carmilla’s hips.

 

“Baby please,” Laura moaned out as Carmilla began her decent. Laura couldn’t help the slight lift of her hips as she felt the brunette’s warm breath coasting across her practically dripping center.

 

She should have been embarrassed by how wet she already was, but she couldn’t blame herself after watching her girlfriend stretch and experiment with new positions in that sexy outfit she put her in.

 

Carmilla just watched the girl unravel beneath her touch before dipping her head down and giving the blonde one broad lick through her slick center. The brunette moaned at the taste causing Laura’s to pant in response at the vibrations.

 

The brunette’s focus was momentarily pulled away from her efforts at the feel of her girlfriend’s hands threading through her raven locks to gain some kind of support. Carmilla couldn’t hold in the small purr she released as it rumbled against Laura’s core. The feel of Laura on her tongue and the blonde’s fingers scratching the back of her scalp was doing absolute wonders for her.

 

She refocused her attention onto Laura’s clit after feeling the woman’s hips jump every time she hit a particular spot. Her tongue made tight circles around the throbbing bud as Laura’s hips set into a rhythm that matched her own.

 

Laura slowly lost all ability to keep her voice down as high pitched moans escaped from her throat without permission. Her grip on Carmilla’s curls tightened as she felt a warm pressure start to build in her lower abdomen. Her hips now made sporadic movements as she tried to keep the balance between keeping up with Carmilla’s pace and just enjoying the sensations.

 

Carmilla watched the woman’s body language carefully as she continued her frantic pace. From the sounds Laura was making, she knew she was close to coming.

 

“Oh Carm, fuck right there. Don’t stop!” Laura practically screamed as her body teetered on the edge of her fast approaching release.

 

That was all Carmilla needed for her to wrap her lips around the writhing woman’s pulsing clit and suck her into her warm mouth.

 

This was just enough to push Laura over the edge as she convulsed with waves of pleasure that washed over her. Lights flashed behind her eyelids and her hands grabbed out to Carmilla to hold her down.

 

Carmilla replaced her mouth with her fingers to slowly bring the blonde down from her intense orgasm as she slowly made her way back up Laura’s spent body. She noticed the woman’s tight grip on her arm so she took it with her free hand and threaded their fingers together.

 

“It’s okay baby. I got you,” Carmilla spoke softly as she tenderly kissed her cheek and brought her free hand up to stroke the blonde’s face.

 

Laura’s body relaxed and her eyes fluttered open to be met with her girlfriend’s smiling face. She reached up and lovingly wiped the corner of the brunette’s mouth that still had a little of her arousal smeared on it.

 

Camilla shyly turned her face into Laura’s hand and left a gentle kiss to her palm.

 

“Was...uhm…was that okay?” Carmilla quietly asked as she looked at her hands that were still playing with the blonde’s fingers.

 

Laura let out a loud laugh and pulled the brunette to her face so she could leave dozens of kisses there. The brunette knew they were meant to be kisses, but all she could feel was Laura’s smile being imprinted on her face over and over. She couldn’t help but feel that it was so much better.

 

“I guess I’ll take that as a yes,” Carmilla smiled back as Laura started to nod and lean back in towards her.

 

 **_Knock. Knock. Knock_ ** **.**

 

Both woman scrambled to their feet at the rude interruption and stared at each other with panicked expressions. The women were so tangled up in each other that they had forgotten that they were still technically in public. A faint voice filtered through the door.

 

“ _Hey Laura, I know you’re booked for a one on one, but your next class is scheduled for 2:30 and people are already starting to come in_ ,” Laura’s secretary Vivian spoke from the other side of the door.

 

“Oh thanks Viv! Just lost track of time I guess,” Laura managed to get out in a voice with a higher pitch than normal as she struggled to get her pants back on properly. She sent a glare towards a silently snickering Carmilla as the brunette slid back into her sweatpants and jacket.

 

“And that’s my queue to leave,” Carmilla said as she started to back out towards the door with a satisfied smile stretched across her face.

 

“Oh no you don’t!” Laura launched herself at the woman and planted a heated kiss against her expectant lips. “We’re not finished with this. I expect you to be ready by the time I get home.”

 

“I’ll be waiting cutie,” Carmilla replied as she gave Laura one final peck before heading out the door.

 

Laura’s secretary, _Viv,_ just gave the brunette a knowing smile and salute as Carmilla practically sprinted out the studio without so much as a goodbye.

 

* * *

 

 

Carmilla decided to walk the rest of the way back to the apartment from the studio because she now had some excess energy to work off. She couldn’t help the extra spring in her step and the ginormous smile that threatened to split her cheeks in two. Thoughts of the blonde clutching her closer as she came played on repeat in her head as she made her way down the street.

 

After heading towards the back of Betty’s bakery, she practically skipped up the stairs to the second landing all the while humming Feeling Good under her breath. The brunette pulled out her new set of keys that Daniel had every so kindly lent to her and unlocked the door to the apartment. She pushed to get in, but stopped short as she heard a thud on the other side of the door.

 

She slowly kept pushing, but noticed a small resistance pushing back as if something was blocking the door as it inched open. She wracked her brain as she tried to think of anything that she might have left or dropped, but she came up with nothing.

 

Once she had opened the door enough to get her body through, she cautiously peeked around to find the obstruction, but what she saw made her stomach drop.

 

Inside the apartment was a brown and black older cat that lay motionless on the hardwood floor. She quickly knelt down to it, but felt a shiver down her spine at the lack of response it had to her touch.

 

The brunette reluctantly turned the cat over, and her fears were confirmed at the realization that the cat was in fact dead. Without facing away, she shut the door behind her and walked further into the apartment to check for any open windows or any other way the cat could have gotten in.

 

Without any luck she decided to return back to the cat and call Laura, but a small blue piece of paper on the door caught her attention.

 

She reluctantly walked towards it to get a better look at the scratchy handwriting on the note. As she got close enough to see it, Carmilla’s blood ran cold as she read the four words again and again to make sure it was real.

 

**_“Please don’t tell mommy”_ **

 

Carmilla ran to the kitchen and grabbed a large black garbage bag. She shook it a few times to get it open and hastily gathered the deceased cat into it and tied it off. Her gag reflex flared up as she tried to quell the emotional storm that was currently tearing up her mind.

 

The brunette ripped the note off the door with her free hand and raced outside to dispose of the small body and any evidence of what just happened. After slamming the garbage container shut she turned her back to it and slid down to the ground.

 

Carmilla tried to keep down the bile that was rising in her throat as she choked on her emotions. She sobbed at the feeling that this all felt too familiar…

 

**…because she’d done this b** **efore.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that happened... Come stop by in the comments if you want to talk or just kick my ass for not writing in 2 months haha! As always, I appreciate your feedback:)


	14. Chapter 14

Laura walked into the dark apartment and settled her yoga bag onto the kitchen island counter. Her classes ended up going longer than expected so it was already getting dark by the time she was able to leave the studio and head home. She had texted Carmilla that she was going to be a little late, but the brunette hadn’t replied which left her with a funny feeling that she just couldn’t shake.

 

“Baby I’m home,” Laura called into the house, but stopped moving when she received no response. “Carm, where are you?”

 

Laura crept further into the house and switched on the lights in the living room. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she continued her search for the brunette. Taking into consideration her father’s lessons on safety, she decided to trust her gut and stay quiet until she knew the area was secure.

 

She tiptoed over to her kitchen counter and pulled out one of the many cans of bear spray her father had stocked in the cabinet beneath the sink the last time he visited. She was confident in her hand to hand combat skills, but a little help couldn’t hurt. _For her at least._

 

Laura pulled out her cell phone from her jacket pocket and silently shrugged off the coat to leave behind. She didn’t want to give away her position, and her parka was notorious for making obnoxiously loud shuffling noises.

 

The blonde crept down the hall and peered into both the bathroom and linen closet, but found nothing suspicious. She finally reached her bedroom door and held her cell phone up to her face. Her thumb hovered over the call button, but hesitated before she could press it.

 

She sucked in a deep breath before tapping the green call button. The screen was filled by the words, _CARM <3 calling mobile… _Laura willed herself to be brave as she waited for any signs of movement. The blonde jumped as she heard loud ringing from the opposite side of the door.

 

Without thinking, Laura swung open the door with a loud bang that reverberated around the room as it smashed into her large wooden dresser. She stepped inside and held the bear spray out in front of her towards whatever waited for her on the other side.

 

Laura’s posture automatically deflated at the sight of a startled brunette sitting straight up in her bed. She could see the woman’s hair was a mess of tangled raven curls and her eyes were puffy and red as if she had been crying. The blonde watched in horror as Carmilla’s dark eyes started to water with a new set of tears.

 

“Oh my god Carm!” Laura spewed out as she dropped the bear spray to the floor and ran over to her surprised girlfriend. She clumsily clambered onto the bed and tightly wrapped the woman up in her arms. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just…you weren’t answering your phone, and all the lights weren’t on. I got scared and I…I clearly overreacted. Baby please don’t cry.”

 

Laura ran her fingers through the woman’s tangled curls as Carmilla shakily settled into her side, but stayed silent. The blonde could tell that something was seriously off about her, but she didn’t want to push it considering she just scared the shit out of her. She leaned down and dropped a lingering kiss onto the woman’s cool forehead.

 

What might have seemed like an affectionate gesture at the time was actually a trick the blonde had picked up from her mother when she was little. Instead of scaring Laura with a thermometer, her mother would always check for a temperature by kissing her forehead. Carmilla’s behavior was unusual for her, so the blonde just wanted to make sure she wasn’t running a fever. She pulled Carmilla closer as she tried to figure out what was going on with her.

 

Laura noticed that the back of the artist’s neck was sticky with sweat, but she didn’t say anything as she lightly scratched the woman’s scalp. She thought of asking if she felt ill, but decided to try and change the subject instead.

 

“You know the weirdest thing just happened to me outside,” Laura said and felt Carmilla’s body go rigid against her own. “The crazy lady from upstairs almost knocked me over in the parking lot because she was looking for her missing cat. Sparkles, I think,” Laura rambled out as she tried to get Carmilla out of her distant mood.

 

The blonde looked down at the feeling of Carmilla gripping her tank top tightly. Her eyes were squeezed shut with her brows pulled together. Her expression looked pained, and Laura just wanted to know what the fuck was going on, and how she could fix it.

 

Laura moved one of her hands to the brunette’s face and massaged the area between her brows with the pad of her thumb. She couldn’t contain the warm smile that spread across her face at the memory of a phone conversation she recently had with her dad.

 

He had casually brought it up during conversation and told her that he used to do that to her mother when the blonde was growing up. He wanted her to know where she got it from and why it was so important. The affectionate gesture was special, and there was no one else that she had ever done it to, or even wanted to for that matter. Carmilla was special.

 

“Carm please talk to me. What’s the matter?” Laura pleaded as she drew the silent woman into her chest.

 

Carmilla looked up at the blonde with a blank expression, but no words even came close to the emotions that were flooding her brain. She so desperately wanted to tell her everything, but something kept her from spilling her darkest secrets onto the brightest soul she had ever met. She just couldn’t do that to her.

 

Laura watched as the brunette’s mouth open and close several times, but not a single word slipped out. She could see the conflict sparring in her eyes as she tried to come to a decision on what she would allow herself to say.

 

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me,” Laura said, but she didn’t miss the disappointment cross Carmilla’s face before it went back to being neutral. “How about we go order some chinese and then we can watch a movie? And if at some point you want to let me know what’s going on in that head of yours, I’ll be here.”

 

A small smile tugged at the corner of Carmilla’s lips as she nodded her consent. She wordlessly followed Laura by the hand as they headed out to the living room to order the take out and set up a movie for them to watch together.

 

After the food was delivered, the two women settled down onto the large yellow couch that was much to big for two. Laura’s heart ached a little when Carmilla had taken her food and sat on the opposite end of the couch. She had still yet to say a word, but now the space between them was speaking volumes.

 

Laura felt hurt at the physical barrier the brunette created and the silence was deafening, but despite her aggravation she kept her mouth shut. Well mostly, except for the times when she would aggressively shove spring roles into it.

 

As the silence stretched on, the blonde’s patience began to shrink. Growing up as an only child had dramatically shaped certain facets of her personality, and being patient was not a trait she possessed. Her temper began to flare as the broody woman continued to ignore her from across the couch.

 

Carmilla stole a glance out of the corner of her eye at the blonde who had just dramatically sighed for the 33rd time in the last 20 minutes of the movie. She could feel the tension rolling off her in waves as the woman’s kindness was met with her silence.

 

Carmilla had known that she had hurt the blonde’s feelings when Laura had decided to put on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Carmilla knew this was an odd choice for the usually perky women because the first few were by far her favorites. Laura had always  appreciated the cinematography of the later ones, but she never picked them because she felt they were a little too dark for a light and casual movie night. Or so she had thought.

 

Carmilla could feel her anxiety building as the movie progressed. The thematic tension was only fueling the panic that was rising in her throat along with her secrets that remained bottled up. Words unsaid that stacked on top of each other threatening to break free of the prison bars that were her teeth as they stayed clamped tight.

 

Carmilla brought her knees up to her chest as she willed herself not to cry. The artist could feel her guilt taking shelter inside her chest as it protected itself from the forceful draft of Laura’s chilly attitude that blew its way across the couch from the few feet between them that might as well have been an ocean.

 

The brunette’s attention was drawn back to the television as the rolling credits started to fill the screen. She wasn’t sure how long she had retreated back into her own mind, but apparently it was long enough to miss half the movie.

 

Carmilla looked back over to the blonde, and was caught off guard to see her looking back at her with an unreadable expression.

 

“What the hell Carmilla?” Laura burst out as her anger finally bubbled to the surface. “I tried to be patient with you and not pry, but you won’t even talk to me. I am your girlfriend and that’s supposed to mean that you can trust me and let me help you when things are hard. I want to be there for you, but you won’t even sit next to me!” Laura knew she was yelling, but she couldn’t stop the hurt from seeping into her tensed tone.

 

Carmilla just stared back at her, still in shock at the sudden outburst. She had known her silence was bothering her girlfriend, but she hadn’t realized Laura had been taking it personally. Shutting off had always been her coping mechanism, but she had never had anyone in her life before that cared for her enough that her distance had been any sort of issue.

 

“You know what? I give up. You can do whatever you want, but I’m going to bed,” Laura said in utter defeat as she moved to get up from the couch with her head hung low.

 

“I was adopted!” Carmilla blurted out in desperation as her arm shot out to grab the blonde’s hand, restricting her from leaving.

 

“What did you say?” Laura quietly asked as she sat back down significantly closer to the brunette than she was before. She watched as Carmilla looked down at their conjoined hands as if silently asking for her support. The blonde gently squeezed the artist’s hand as a sign for her to continue.

 

“When I was young, I was adopted along with my brother John Phillip from a small orphanage on the outskirts of a town called Styria, Austria. We weren’t blood related, but we might as well have been. He was so young when we met and I felt an instant connection. He quickly became attached to me, and I felt a responsibility to keep him safe like a big sister would.”

 

Carmilla chanced a look at the blonde and saw her staring back with rapt attention, so she continued.

 

“The other children would make fun of him because he was abnormally small for his age, so I often had to step in. A few fingers on my right hand are slightly crooked because of how many times I broke them against their faces. The orphanage was very poor, so I wasn’t able to receive the care I needed to reset them properly. Maman always told me I was a disappointment because I had ruined my chances of being a piano prodigy before I had even learned to play.”

 

Carmilla bitterly chuckled at the memory and watched as Laura examined her fingers more closely, as if she was just noticing something she couldn’t believe she had missed in the first place. Her touch was gentle and loving as she kissed every single one with soft lips as if they still hurt.

 

“By the time we were adopted, I was 6 and John Phillip was 3. The Karnsteins had prepared to only adopt me, but I begged them to take my brother too. I lied and said that we were blood related and that he would die without me. After I refused to leave without him, Marc Karnstein gave in and signed the paperwork for both of us.”

 

Laura watched as the brunette became lost in the memories of her childhood. She only wished that the emotion tied up with said memories wasn’t pain.

 

“My brother and I were taken back to live in a large mansion with our new parents in Victoria, B.C. The ground rules were set once we arrived, and we were told to refer to them as Maman and Dad. We also came to understand that the two of them were vastly different in every way. Maman was strict and cold, while Dad was caring and kind. The contrast was almost shocking, but their demeanors seemed to even each other out.”

 

Carmilla took a second to pause as she tried to remember the details about her past that she had worked so hard to bury in the depths of her mind.

 

“Growing up was still hard, but in a different way than it had been at the orphanage. As we aged, it was made clear that I was Maman’s favorite, her ‘glittering girl,’ while John Phillip became ‘the burden.’ I would hear my parents arguing constantly about how Maman had never wanted John Phillip, and how he was toxic to the family. I can’t quite remember why she hated him so much, but John Phillip was a troubled kid. He had some behavioral issues which wasn’t uncommon for children in the system, but he always meant well. He never meant what he did.”

 

Carmilla brought up her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose as she willed herself to keep going even though it brought back unpleasant memories.

 

“It’s okay. Take your time,” Laura said quietly enough to not shatter the stillness between them.

 

A few seconds passed before Carmilla felt Laura’s hands travel to her face to angle it up to her own. Their lips were brought together in a tender kiss that gave her all the support she needed.

 

“On my tenth birthday, Maman had decided to throw me a party with some of the kids from my fifth grade class. I was a bit of an outcast at school so it wasn’t a surprise to me when no one showed up. I really didn’t think much of it at the time, but Maman wasn’t pleased about her plans falling through. She blamed the poor turnout on the snowy weather conditions outside, but told me she would do something to cheer me up. She decided to send out my Dad and John Phillip to get me something special. We waited for them to get back, but as the hours started to tick by, Maman began to get worried.”

 

Carmilla could feel the blonde’s grip on her thigh get tighter as she started to connect the dots. Her throat felt like it was closing up as she blinked back the tears that started to collect.

 

“Five hours and about a dozen calls to the police station later, we received the call from the local hospital that they both had died in a car accident on the freeway. A drunk driver had swerved into their lane and their car was pushed off the road and into a tree. The medical examiner told us…told us that the impact had most likely killed them instantly,” Carmilla choked out the last part as the emotional dams broke.

 

The brunette threw herself into Laura’s arms, and pressed her cheek to the woman’s chest as sobs wracked through her body.

 

“They both died, and it was all my fault,” Carmilla sobbed as over a decade of guilt was confessed into the air.

 

“Carm, that wasn’t your fault! It was a terrible tragedy, but the fact that it happened on your birthday has nothing to do with whose fault it was. There was no way you could have controlled anything that happened that day, and the only person to blame was the drunk driver behind the wheel. You can’t blame yourself for other people’s mistakes, and I will spend every day of the rest of my life if I have to, making sure that you believe that. I’m so sorry you had to go through that, and I want you to know that I’ll always be here for you,” Laura said as she rocked them back and forth, letting Carmilla cry into her chest.

 

Laura drew patterns onto the woman’s back as she stayed nuzzled into her chest. She could feel the brunette’s breathing start to slow to match her own, signaling she was calming down.

 

“Things got worse after they left. Maman wouldn’t ever say it out loud, but I knew she blamed me for everything that happened. She became more cold and demanding as time went on. After I told her I was gay she stopped telling me that she loved me, and only focused on how much of a disappointment I was. She even tried to send me to a conversion camp when I was sixteen, but I threatened to turn her into the police for the several times she hit me. She wasn’t usually physically abusive, but sometimes she just snapped.”

 

Laura felt her heart break into a million pieces at the thought of someone purposefully hurting the brunette in her arms. She couldn’t even imagine the pain and confusion this ‘Maman’ had put her through at such a young age. Every teen already has to deal with the pressures of coming to accept themselves as they are. No one should ever have to feel the weight of their parent’s disapproval.

 

“It wasn’t until my eighteenth birthday that I finally decided to run away. Maman had prepared me to go to a prestigious college in the States, but all I could think about was art. I ran away with the little money I had saved up, and caught the first bus to Toronto. For awhile I had to couch hop while I raised some money working as a waitress. I worked long hours and used what I made on art supplies. Every hour I had free I used to paint in the streets. People would watch and leave money in the box I left by my side. It wasn’t what I had imagined my life would be out here, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any way.”

 

Carmilla looked up to see a small smile on the blonde’s face as she watched her talk. She could just tell by the look on the women’s face how much she cared for her. The artist pushed down the butterflies in her stomach as she continued her story.

 

“One day in late summer, a man by the name of Albus Hornwell stopped by to watch me paint. Many people stopped throughout the day, but something about him stood out. Most people would stay for fifteen minutes before walking away, but this man stayed for hours. He sat down on a nearby bench and just watched. When the day was done and I was packing up my belongings, he decided to introduce himself. He was the head of the art department at the University of Toronto and wanted to know if I would consider his offer of becoming his assistant at the college. I of course had said yes without realizing that my entire life would change.”

 

Laura watched as the women’s posture changed slightly and a newfound confidence washed over her.

 

“Professor Hornwell quickly became a mentor of sorts for me. I sat in on all of his lectures and helped critique the pieces of his students with him. In exchange, he let me sleep in one of the dorms for free, and I was able to use the studio whenever there wasn’t a class. He let me focus on my work while still exposing me to the style of others. Without him, I can honestly say that my art would not be what it is today. One day he told me that he had submitted one of my pieces to a prestigious gallery in Europe and it had been accepted for the exhibition. My work was honored and it exposed my name to many people worldwide. Before long, I had buyers asking to purchase my pieces. With that new income I was able to buy both my apartment, and a studio of my own. Long story short, I owe him everything I own today,” Carmilla finished. She felt content as the weight of her past was lifted off of her shoulders.

 

“What happened to Professor Hornwell?” Laura asked as her curiosity got the better of her.

 

“A few years ago he got a job offer in Italy that he couldn’t refuse. He had offered to take me with him, but I fell in love with this city and I just couldn’t bring myself to leave. He still calls me from time to time to see what I’m up to,” Carmilla laughs while thinking back to some of her more unusual conversations with the old man.

 

“I’m glad you didn’t move,” Laura said as she wrapped her arms and legs around the woman effectively locking her in. “I’m happy to have you here…with me.”

 

Carmilla laughed as she melted into the embrace. They both stayed quiet as the brunette focused on the steady beating of Laura’s heart, and the fingers that lightly danced across her back in various formations.

 

“Do you want to know something about me that I’ve never told you?” Laura whispered into the air only loud enough for the woman in her arms to hear.

 

Carmilla shuffled back a little so that she could clearly see the blonde’s face. She could tell Laura was nervous about something, but she couldn’t contain her curiosity.

 

“Of course. I want to know everything about you,” was all the brunette could say as she watched her carefully and waited for her to speak.

 

“Hhhmm, where do I start?” Laura laughed nervously as she ran her hand through her honey blonde hair. “Have you ever wondered how I can afford a place like this?”

 

“I mean…I guess I’ve thought about it once or twice, but I never really thought it was place to ask,” Carmilla replied truthfully as she looked back at the fidgeting blonde. She couldn’t understand why she had asked such a question, but decided to stay quiet until Laura was ready to tell her.

 

Carmilla watched as the blonde detangled herself and got up to walk over to the left side of the large floor to ceiling bookshelf that housed all of her novels. The smaller woman ran her hand along the spines of each book until she reached the one she seemed to be specifically looking for.

 

The blonde pulled out the large book that was haphazardly bound with what looked to be tan thread and a black leather cover. The edges looked frayed from use instead of old age. Carmilla could tell that whatever it was has had better days, but something about it felt authentic, homemade.

 

Laura stayed quiet as she shuffled back over to the sofa with the book held tightly in her hands. She clutched it to her chest as if it would disappear if she let it stray too far.

 

Carmilla reached over and placed her hands on the women’s thighs as they faced each other sitting cross-legged. The brunette could feel the woman’s pain as it seeped into the skin of her palms.

 

Laura slowly loosened her grip on the precious object clutched to her chest, and held it out for Carmilla to take. She couldn’t help the small shake of her hands as the brunette carefully took the book with her own.

 

Carmilla lightly held the book in her left hand, but used her other to grab the blonde’s. She could feel the tension in the other woman as she held onto her for dear life.

 

The smaller woman watched as Carmilla gently opened up the cover to read the first page. In bold lettering it read, **_Together in Paris by Elizabeth L. Woodbury_**.

 

Carmilla’s eyes widened at the name at the bottom of the page. She had recognized the name as a very popular romance novel that her adoptive mother had read during her own teen years.

 

She flipped a few pages into the book and was shocked to find thousands of handwritten notes scribbled all over the margins of the pages. Annotation after annotation stained the yellowing pages with messy script that bled into the paper. It reminded her a lot of Laura’s handwriting. Chaotic, but delicately so.

 

“Laura, this is amazing. How on earth did you get your hands on an original manuscript? This thing must have cost a fortune!” Carmilla looked up in awe, but was brought back to reality by how tight the blonde was still holding her hand with a pained look on her face.

 

“Look at the dedication,” was all Laura said as she squeezed her eyes shut.

 

The artist did as she was told and flipped back to the front of the book to find the right page. She gave the blonde one last glance before reading what was on it.

 

_To my little Laura,_

_May you always find the strength to fight for what you believe in._

_All my love!_

_~Mama_

“Elizabeth Woodbury is your mother?” Carmilla said absentmindedly as she tried to comprehend the enormity of what she just read.

 

Laura released a shaky breath as her index finger traced the words on the page over and over.

 

“Yes, she was,” Laura said quietly as she tried to pull herself together. If Carmilla could open up about her past, so could she.

 

Carmilla sucked in a breath at her use of the past tense. The stories she heard on the news many years ago started to filter through her mind. Suddenly the silence in the room felt heavier.

 

“So I guess your wondering what this has to do with anything,” Laura said as she played with the brunette’s fingers intertwined with hers. “Well to start off, my childhood was much different than yours. I grew up as an only child to a famous romance novelist and an FBI agent. As one could assume, I had a lot of time to myself.”

 

Carmilla placed the book on the coffee table in front of them and leaned back against the sofa so Laura could cuddle into her side. Once settled the blonde continued.

 

“My dad was away for important cases most of the time, and my mom stayed in her office a lot so she could focus on her writing without being distracted, namely by me. That being said, they didn’t have a lot of time for me. I was a bit of a loner as a kid, so that’s how I developed my love of TV shows. I would immerse myself in their world, and it was almost like the characters became my friends,” Laura said, but her voice progressively became more hesitant. “Wow, I just realized how pathetic that sounds.”

 

Laura tried to move away, but Carmilla just clutched her tighter and dropped kisses onto her forehead.

 

“No it doesn’t. Not fitting in is something I’m very familiar with. Please keep going,” Carmilla pleaded as she looked into the blonde’s eyes.

 

Laura looked back at her and felt a rush of warmth flow through her body. She rushed forward to give the artist a chaste kiss on the lips before snuggling back into her side.

 

“It was around my fifteenth birthday when things finally started to change. My mom would take time out of her work day to watch Doctor Who marathons with me and have never ending discussions about which Harry Potter book was the best. My dad had even been taking more cases closer to home so he didn’t have to be gone so long. Everything should have been perfect, but it always felt like there was something they weren’t telling me.”

 

Laura moved her hand under the brunette’s shirt, and started to trail her fingers over the soft skin of her side.

 

“It wasn’t until a few months later that I started to notice something was wrong. One morning before school I heard my mom puking in the bathroom. I had thought it was just the stomach bug, but it started happening more often and at different times during the day. Her face started to lose its color, and I could tell she was losing a lot of weight.”

 

Laura took a deep breath as Carmilla soothingly carded her pale fingers through her silky blonde hair. She had never wanted to talk about her mother with anyone before. Not even the psychologist her father had brought her to after her mother’s death. All this time she had kept her silence. That was until a broody artist managed to crack her open.

 

“It was the day that Mama fell down the stairs that they sat me down and told me that she had terminal stage 4 breast cancer. She had been so busy trying to finish one of her series that she had put off her mammary exam and other doctor’s appointments. To be honest, I think the stress of her last book tour sped up the cancer’s progression because it had metastasized and moved to her lymph nodes by the time they found it. She was eventually admitted into hospice and she died two months after my sixteenth birthday.”

 

“I’m so sorry Laura,” Carmilla spoke into her hair before leaving a sweet kiss there.

 

“Me too,” Laura quietly spoke into the brunette’s neck. “Our relationship wasn’t perfect, but her absence left a hole in my heart. At first I felt relieved when she finally past because she no longer had to suffer, but once she was gone I was left empty. I closed myself off from the world and threw myself into the books that she wrote, hoping to surround myself in the little bit of her I still had left. My dad had tried to get me to go talk to someone, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I felt depressed and lonely, but I couldn’t find it in me to try to change that.”

 

Carmilla could hear the pain in her voice as the woman relayed the hell she went through as an adolescent.

 

“That was until I found yoga,” Laura laughed a little as she thought back to how she turned her life around. “I needed to find something that made me feel like myself again, and yoga gave me just that. My dad noticed the difference right away and completely jumped on board once he figured out what had caused the change. For a while he even woke up early with me before work and school so that I could teach him my routine. I knew he just was doing it to talk to me again, but I finally was at a point where I didn’t want to push him away anymore.”

 

“So I’m guessing your dad was a better yoga student than I am,” Carmilla laughed as she tried to picture Daniel in downward dog. She shuttered at the image that was sure to giver her nightmares.

 

“I’m not so sure about that,” Laura tapped her chin with her index finger as if she were thinking about it. “You’re a lot more flexible than he is.”

 

“Fair enough.” Carmilla caught the mischievous glint in the blonde’s eyes and felt relief flood her body at Laura’s change in attitude.

 

“And I guess that leads me to my studio. When I turned 21, my father told me about what my mother had left for me in her will. She had left behind a large sum of money that she had earned during her successful career as an author. The money was transferred into my account under my name, and came with a message from my mother that said, ‘Follow your dreams wherever they may lead, but never leave your heart behind.’ The first thing I did with my dad’s approval was open up a yoga studio in the center of downtown Toronto.”

 

“Wait hold on. You **own** that yoga studio?” Carmilla asked dumfounded.

 

“That I do! Although when I bought it, it was a little rough around the edges. The location was perfect, but the actual space left much to be desired. My dad actually helped out a lot so that I could get to where I wanted it. It took a little while to start up, but before I knew it, I had a decent sized client list and I was able to hire a few people like Viv to help me run it.”

 

Laura looked up at the brunette’s shocked expression and giggled.

 

“As far as my apartment, I paid for that on my own with the money I earned and my job allows me to comfortably pay the rent every month. I was able to afford it after running my business for awhile, so I haven’t touched my inheritance since I renovated my yoga studio. And apparently along with my inheritance, I also receive any percentages that my mother would have earned from her book sales, but I don’t really use any of it out of principle.”

 

“Laura, your mother had at least 15 best sellers that still do well on the market today. If I’m correct, that should make you like…a millionaire,” Carmilla slowly said as she watched Laura face shift into a sheepish smile.

 

“Uhhhh yeah kinda, but I don’t touch any of it. I know that sounds crazy, but it just doesn’t really feel like mine, you know? I want to earn my way in this world, nit have it given to me.”

 

Laura couldn’t help but squirm a little under Carmilla’s intense gaze. She couldn’t figure out what the brunette was thinking.

 

Before Laura could think too far into it, Carmilla quickly pulled the blonde into a passionate kiss that left her speechless. Carmilla pulled back slightly with her hands on the other woman’s shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

 

“Cupcake, I am so proud of you,” Carmilla punctuated each word with a slight squeeze the woman’s shoulders.

 

That’s all Laura needed to hear before the tears she had tried so hard to hold back came tumbling out. She leaned forward into Carmilla’s warm embrace and let herself really cry for the first time in forever.

 

“Thank you for telling me. And I want you to know that you don’t have to feel lonely anymore because you have me,” Carmilla said lovingly as she stroked the blonde’s back.

 

Laura couldn’t express with words how she felt, so she did the next best thing. She kissed her. She kissed her and poured every bit of emotion she felt into it. Her hands grasped Carmilla’s collar and pulled her impossibly closer until she could feel the beating of her heart against her own.

 

Carmilla reciprocated immediately and tried to express everything she wasn’t quite ready to say. With each kiss, Carmilla could feel another _‘I love you’_ threaten to come out.

 

After a few minutes they both pulled away and curled up with each other. Laura took the throw that was resting on the back of the couch and covered both of them with it. The blonde looked down at Carmilla who already had her eyes half closed, just enjoying the warmth of their bodies being so close together.

 

“Do you want to watch some Dr. Who?” Carmilla asked sleepily. Her eyes were still closed so she missed the adoring smile that stretched across her girlfriend’s face.

 

“I would love that Carm.”

 

* * *

 

 

A few hours later a familiar tune woke the women up from their peaceful slumber.

 

“Isn’t that your phone?” Carmilla groggily said as she made a move to get up. She didn’t get far before Laura’s hands pulled her back down on top of her.

 

**“Just let it ring.”**

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHH my emotions! I hope you enjoyed the chapter:) Let me know how you guys are feeling with this new progression!!


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